Mirror of the Soul
by Anath Tsurugi
Summary: It's Duelist Kingdom. A dark foe from a past that Yami doesn't even remember has come to seek vengence on him. What will Yami do when he discovers the true identity of this deadly assailant? Does he have the strength to kill her a second time?
1. Watching From the Shadows

(A/N) Hello all. What's up and all of that fun stuff. Now, back to business. I assume that you are here to read this particular fic.

Bakura: Way to go, Captain Obvious.

LE: Shut up you!

Bakura: And if I don't?

LE: Then you'll never see this again! (Holds up the Millennium Ring) BWAHAHAHA!

Bakura: How did you get that!

LE: None of your business.

Bakura: INSOLENT MORTAL! I SHALL BANISH YOU TO THE SHADOW REALM!

LE: Not without this, you won't.

Bakura: Damn! She's right! Ok fine, I'll be quiet.

LE: And you'll do the disclaimer.

Bakura: What… NO!

LE: Don't cross me, Bakura. I still have the Ring.

Bakura: All right! FINE! LuthienEowyndoesn'townanythingfromYu-Gi-Oh. (Whispers to the audience.) You should also know that she's a shameless bitch with no re-

LE: I HEARD THAT! (Dangles the Millennium Ring just out of the spirit's reach.)

Bakura: Fine then! I take it back! (Mutters under his breath.) One of these days, Luthien…one of these days…

LE: Anyway, moving on. This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh fic so I might not have all of the ropes down just yet. This is, however, an OC fic and whether or not she is a Mary Sue is for you to decide. Though I will defend her character until my dying breath. That probably sounds a bit harsh, but oh well. I should also mention that this fic takes place during Duelist Kingdom. One more warning before we begin, this story contains an eighth Millennium Item. And with that in mind, this fic could be a bit confusing in the beginning. All right then, lets get this party started! (Bops her head in time to the music that suddenly sounds out of nowhere.)

Bakura: Oh, Re! Why me?

**Mirror of the Soul**

_Chapter 1: Watching From the Shadows_

It was late in the afternoon when she first arrived in Domino City. School was letting out for the day when the young woman walked into town. To anyone who bothered to pay her any attention, she seemed to be in her mid-twenties, blonde hair, blue eyes, the typical stereotyped white woman. But then again, anyone who paid this woman any attention wouldn't realize that this wasn't this woman's true appearance.

"So, this is Domino. An interesting place for KaibaCorp to reside," she said to herself.

_But this is the place where Pegasus said that I should go if I ever want to see Atrus alive again,_ she thought as she wondered the streets.

Just then she saw something that made her heart stop.

A young boy and his friends walking home from school. His friends meant nothing to her but the boy in question caught her interest. He was wearing a blue school uniform and he had the wildest hairstyle she had ever seen. The boy had blonde, flyaway bangs and black hair with fuchsia streaks sprouting from his head. But what interested her the most was the large gold pendant that the little one wore around his neck. A golden pyramid with a large Egyptian eye adorning the front.

"The Millennium Puzzle!" she gasped.

Trying not to loose her composure, the woman reached into a hidden pocket in her jacket and withdrew a golden hand mirror. The same Sennen Eye that adorned the boy's pendant was mounted on the back of her mirror.

She gripped the Mirror's handle tightly and turned it so that the youth and his friends were reflected in the golden surface.

"Reveal the truth to me," she whispered to the Mirror.

As the words were spoken the reflection in the Mirror began to change. The boy seemed to split in two. One was the boy who was walking down the street at the moment. The other was different somehow. He was taller and much more confident-looking than his young counterpart.

Then another changed reflection caught her eye. Three of the students hadn't changed. Two taller boys, one with blonde hair and one with brown, and a slender girl with brown hair. But the fourth student, a boy with white-blonde hair and pale skin, his reflection had split as well. One was the student that could be seen walking with his friends and, once again, the second was a taller, more confident version of the actual student. Only it wasn't confidence that this particular spirit was possessed of. This one had more of a wild, rebellious air to him. There was also a strange, murderous glint in the eyes of this new reflection. The mirror also revealed the cause of this split. Another Millennium Item was hidden beneath the boy's shirt.

"The Millennium Ring! Could this be why Pegasus sent me here?" she wondered out loud.

The woman immediately tucked the Mirror back into her jacket and began to follow the group of kids at a safe distance. The boy with the Millennium Ring eventually split off from the other four and went his own way. The four remaining students continued on until they reached a small store. As they entered, the woman quickly ducked into a side alley.

"The Kame Game Shop, eh?" she said to herself as she pulled out the Mirror once more and gazed at her face. Now was the time to remove the disguise.

As she gazed at her reflection her features began to change. The shoulder-length blonde hair turned to midnight black and grew until it reached halfway down her back. Her body shrunk a few inches and became much more lithe than before. Her pale skin darkened to a light, coffee colored hue. Her eyes changed from blue to a striking, emerald green. To complete the changes her full face narrowed out. Where a twenty-something-year-old woman had stood only moments before, there now stood a seventeen-year-old girl decked in a pair of blue jean shorts, a red halter top, and a tattered white jacket.

Before entering the store she stowed the Mirror once more and pulled her unruly hair into a ponytail, leaving two strands hanging loose on each side of her face. Time to find out about this kid with the Millennium Puzzle.

When she walked through the front door she saw the four students gathered at the checkout counter. They had been joined by an old man who seemed to be showing them something really interesting, as none of them had noticed her coming in.

"Oh, hello. Can I help you, miss?" The old man asked her.

The four teens turned to look at her as she approached the counter. Her sandals clacked ominously against the hard wood floor of the shop.

"I don't know. Perhaps you can," she answered quietly.

Before she could continue, the boy with the Millennium Puzzle suddenly burst out.

"Hey, I know you! You're Lotaru Kapori. One of the top ranking duelists in the country!" he shouted excitedly.

"Why I believe you're right, Yugi," the old man said, just as excitedly.

"Lotaru who?" the Blonde teen asked.

"Lotaru Kapori. She's one of the top duelists in Japan. Second only to Seto Kaiba and Atrus Carson," the young teen called Yugi explained.

"Guilty as charged. You've found me out," Lotaru answered with a small grin.

"You were set to go against Seto Kaiba in the final rounds of the Duel Monsters Regional Tournament. But then you dropped out all of a sudden. What are you doing in a place like this? Why did you drop out?" Yugi asked her.

It was all true. She had been set to go head to head with Seto Kaiba in the finals of the Regional Tournament. Set to take the prize too. Until Maximillion Pegasus entered the picture that is.

"That's my own business. But we haven't been properly introduced. You know me. But I don't know who you are."

"I am Solomon Mutou. I run this store. And this is my grandson, Yugi."

"And these are my friends, Joey, Tristan and Tea," Yugi added, finishing up the introductions.

"Well, I'm happy to meet all of you."

"And I am honored to have you in my game shop. Is there anything in particular that you're looking for? Maybe we could help you out," Yugi's grandpa said.

Lotaru was about to ask Yugi about the Millennium Puzzle when she spotted what Yugi's grandpa had been showing them earlier. A Duel Monster card. And a very rare and powerful card at that if her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

"Excuse me, Mr. Mutou. But is that, by any chance, a Blue Eyes White Dragon card you've got there?" she asked with a hint of wonder in her voice.

"Yes indeed. This card is my greatest treasure."

Lotaru stared intently at the card for a few minutes before reaching her hand into the pocket where she always kept her dueling deck. She went to the back of the deck and grabbed a card. Most people didn't know it, but many of the cards she carried with her were just blank cards. This particular card was one of those.

Lotaru began to focus her mind on the Blue Eyes White Dragon card before her. She had the image clearly in her mind and in her mind's eye she saw the Blue Eyes card merge with her blank one.

As she let the image slip away she pulled her card from her pocket. The Blue Eyes White Dragon stared back at her. Technically there were only four Blue Eyes White Dragons in all of the world. But now there were five.

The Millennium Mirror afforded her certain powers and this was one of them. Not the power of the Mirror itself, but the power of the spirit that dwelt within it.

Lotaru smirked at the card once before putting it back in her pocket. This card would come in handy later.

"Actually, Yugi, I was wondering if-"

Lotaru was cut short by the entrance of a new customer.

"Hello, can I help you?" Mr. Mutou asked the newcomer.

"If you can't it certainly wouldn't surprise me," a cold voice answered from the doorway.

Lotaru turned to see who it was that had come into the shop. She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"Seto Kaiba!" Yugi said, clearly surprised.

"Kaiba!" Joey exclaimed, just as shocked.

"Doesn't he have a big, fancy company to run? What's he doing down here?" Tristan asked no one in particular.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I came to see the card," Kaiba said.

"Hey, are you into Duel Monsters too? This is perfect. Maybe we can all duel together sometime." Joey suggested.

"Me? Duel you? I would have more of a challenge playing solitaire," Kaiba said in a mocking tone of voice.

"What?"

"I am the number one ranked duelist in the country and the favorite to win the Duel Monsters championship. You wouldn't last two minutes in a duel against me," Kaiba explained.

"Oooooooh, I'm shakin'. Maybe you'd like to settle this with fists instead of cards," Joey threatened, taking a step towards Kaiba.

"Woah, take it easy, Joey," Yugi said, trying to restrain his friend.

"But Yugi, Kaiba's askin' for it," Joey said through gritted teeth.

"You on the other hand might last more than two minutes," Kaiba remarked as he spotted Lotaru.

"What are you doing in Domino, Kapori? I knew you were afraid to duel with me, but why embarrass yourself by hanging around with these amateurs?"

"We'll meet in the dueling arena someday. And when we do, I'll be ready for you," Lotaru said, not quite meaning to challenge Kaiba but letting him know that she didn't fear him.

"If you're so ready to challenge me then why did you run away? Why did you drop out of the running?"

Lotaru felt her anger flare up inside her. This guy was one to talk.

"I……can't-say." Lotaru answered, barely keeping her temper in check.

"I thought as much. You _are_ afraid!"

"I'm not! But I wouldn't expect an idiotlike youto understand my reasons! Some things are just more important than dueling," she countered.

"Like what?"

"That's none of your damn business, Kaiba!"

"Oh, but it is. I make it a point to know all of the doings of the competition. What? Does this have something to do with that boyfriend of yours? Atrus Carson?"

Lotaru was silenced by the mention of Atrus. She turned away from Kaiba, not willing to let him see the small tear that fell down her cheek. Her dropping out of the tournament and coming to Domino had everything to do with Atrus. Her Atrus, who was now practically worse than dead.

Kaiba could tell that he had hit a sore spot with his opponent. As he had finally gotten her to shut up he decided to ignore her for the time being.

"Now, does this shop have any worthwhile cards or not?" Kaiba asked Yugi's grandfather

Then he saw the card that Mr. Mutou was holding in his hands.

"Can it be? The Blue Eyes White Dragon? In a dump like this?" he wondered out loud as he shoved his way past Yugi and his friends.

Kaiba had finally found the fourth Blue Eyes.

"Well enough window shopping. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Yugi's grandpa asked Kaiba as he put the card back into its case.

Mr. Mutou gasped as Kaiba slammed a brief case down on the counter in front of him and opened it to reveal that it was full to bursting with Duel Monster cards.

"Listen to me old man, give me your Blue Eyes White Dragon card and I'll trade you all of these," Kaiba offered.

"Ah, nice. But no thanks."

"Fine. If you won't trade, maybe you'll sell it. Name your price. I can pay anything you ask," Kaiba said, getting more insistent by the minute.

"I'm sure you could, but this card is worth more to me than you could ever offer. Not because of its power, or because it's so rare. But because of what it means to me. This card was given to me by a dear friend and so I treasure this card as I do that friend. So parting with it is completely out of the question," Yugi's grandpa stated as if that settled the matter.

"No!" Kaiba shouted in outrage.

"You'd feel the same even if it were a common card, right Grandpa?" Yugi asked him.

"Exactly. You see, this precious card has bonded with my heart," Mr. Mutou explained.

"Fine! I've heard enough of your nonsense! You senile old fool!" Kaiba shouted as he stormed out of the game shop.

"Man! All this for one card?" Tristan exclaimed.

"Well it is a very rare and powerful card. Seto Kaiba is out to have them all," Lotaru said.

"But isn't that a little much? I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him," Tea said.

"Well, of course we haven't Tea. He goes to our school. We see him everyday," Joey said.

"I know that, Joey! But you know what I mean!" Tea said angrily.

Tea and Joey continued to fight as Lotaru wondered around the shop, looking at all of the different cards without really seeing them. Kaiba's insults had shaken her deeply. His mentioning of Atrus had taken her back to that night almost a month ago.

XxX

"Hey, Lotaru! I'm home!" Atrus called out into the empty living room of their apartment.

"Hey, Atrus. Why are you so late? You know we shouldn't be out after dark. Someone might have caught you," Lotaru reprimanded him as she came in from the bedroom.

"Well, I'm happy to see you too," Atrus joked as he cornered her by the couch and pounced.

Lotaru let her worries slip away as Atrus' lips met hers.

"Mmm…Lotaru. I think…I might have found……another job," he murmured to her in between kisses.

"But how can you hold down…two jobs?" she asked, trying not to moan as Atrus kissed her neck.

"Relax. I'll……figure something out. We need……the money," he said as the two of them sat down on the couch.

"Why couldn't you just let me get a job?" Lotaru asked, finally letting a small moan escape her throat as Atrus unbuttoned the first few buttons on her blouse.

"Because……you need to stay…in the tournament," he explained as he kissed further and further down her chest.

"Why?" she hissed while her grip on her boyfriend grew tighter.

"Because we're closer to reaching Pegasus than ever before," he told her. He finally lifted his head up from her body and gazed deeply into her eyes.

Lotaru sat up and Atrus slid off of her a little ways. She reached forward and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. She just loved his hair. Short, spiky black with a crown of white just beneath that, which framed his face. His narrow ice-blue eyes gazed lovingly back at her as they both pulled themselves into sitting positions.

"Atrus, I'm worried. What if Pegasus finds us before we can get to him? What if we can't pay the rent and we get evicted from the apartment? What if we-"

Atrus held a finger up to her lips, silencing her. Then he took both of her hands in his.

"Hush, love. Don't think of that now. Besides, even if we do get evicted……we've lived on the streets before, and we can do it again," he consoled her.

"You're right. I'm being stupid," she said softly as she stood up from the couch and buttoned up her blouse.

Before Atrus could say another word they both heard a knock at the door.

"Atrus Carson! Lotaru Kapori! We know you're both in there and if you don't open up we'll be forced to break down the door!" a harsh voice called out from the hallway.

"Oh no!" Lotaru cried out as she collapsed to her knees. "They've found us!"

X

Lotaru's blindfold was soaked with her tears. Atrus, blindfolded as well, was now holding her in his arms, trying to comfort her as Pegasus' thugs sped them to a secret location in one of his limos.

They had forced their way into the tiny apartment and taken Lotaru and Atrus captive. The men had blindfolded them and shoved them into a waiting limo. Now the two had no idea where they were and they hadn't the slightest idea what sort of horrible fate awaited them.

"Don't cry, Lotaru. I won't let anything happen to you. I'll die before I let Pegasus touch you," Atrus whispered to her as he stroked her hair.

"It's not me, Atrus. I'm worried about you. I'm afraid of what Pegasus might do to get the Mirror. He might kill you. Just like my parents. There's nothing that I can do to stop him. Not even against his Millennium Eye," she cried hopelessly into his chest.

"Don't be afraid. We've escaped him before and we'll do it again. We'll find some way out of this. I won't let him use me against you."

"Quiet, worms!" one of the thugs said as he shoved the two out of the car. Another came and bound their hands.

"Ah, Lotaru. We meet again after so many years." Pegasus' voice called out from the shadows of the ware house that the two had been brought to.

"PEGASUS!" Lotaru called out as she struggled to her feet. "Show yourself!"

"Now what good would that do? You're blindfolded. For all you know I could be standing in front of you."

"What do you want with me?"

"Why ask questions that you already know the answer to? I want the Millennium Mirror!"

"What if I refuse to hand it over? What then?"

"It's really quite simple. Hand over your magic mirror or……lose your boyfriend. If you do not give me the Millennium Mirror, then I will have to kill him."

"I'll never give you the Mirror!"

"All right, fine. Have it your way. I really don't want to hurt the boy, but you've left me no choice."

All of sudden, Lotaru heard the sound of fist meeting face. Then Atrus' cry of pain as he crumpled to the floor.

Lotaru was about to crack and hand the Mirror over when Atrus struggled back to his feet.

"Pegasus, this has gone on long enough! I won't allow you to use me this way! You've taken enough from Lotaru! I'll duel you here and now for her. If I win you release us and never torment Lotaru again. If you win you get me. Sound fair enough?"

"All right then, Atrus-boy. I'll duel you. But if you lose then I get your soul. Are we agreed?"

"Yes."

Then Lotaru's blindfold was removed so she could watch the duel. That's when she realized that it wasn't a ware house at all, but a dueling arena that they had been brought to.

At first, Atrus was dominating the game with his Hyozanryu and Luster Dragon cards. But then Pegasus brought out his Toon cards and cut Atrus down to size. Pegasus won the duel.

"Sorry, Atrus-boy, but you've lost. With that final attack you've lost not only the chance to save your girlfriend but you've lost your own soul as well."

"NO! You can have the Mirror! You can kill me if you want! Just let Atrus go!"

"No, Lotaru! The Millennium Mirror belongs in your hands only. You can never give it up. Not even for me," Atrus said as the Millennium Eye took hold of his soul.

Lotaru was unbound and she raced forward only in time to see Atrus imprisoned within a soul trap card.

As she gazed into his lifeless eyes a great rage rose up inside of her.

"No! How could you do this? YOU MONSTER!"

"If you want your boyfriend back then you must come and face me at my island of Duelist Kingdom. There you will duel against other elite duelists for star chips. Once you've earned ten of them then you can enter my castle and challenge me for Atrus' soul. And if you don't come you'll never see him alive again!"

With that he gave her a dueling glove and two star chips.

"Well, so long, Lotaru. I have other business waiting for me. Oh, and might I suggest going to a city called Domino. I believe that you would be most interested in meeting some of its inhabitants. And that's also where you'll be able to catch the boat to Duelist Kingdom in one month."

Pegasus left her alone and he took Atrus' body with him. Lotaru remained in the empty arena for a long time, wallowing in her own despair. Until at last, she climbed to her feet and made her way back to the apartment. She gathered up what few possessions that she and Atrus had that she could carry easily in her knap sack, having no doubt that she would never return to this apartment. She struck out that very night for Domino City. Having very little money and only a map to guide her it took her a month to reach it on foot.

And now she had found Yugi.

XxX

"Lotaru? LOTARU! Are you awake in there?" Yugi asked, shaking her and trying to pull her out of her trance-like state.

"Huh? Oh, yes. I'm still awake."

"What was that all about? I just asked you why you got all quiet when Kaiba mentioned Atrus Carson. I mean, I know that he's also a top notch duelist and it's well known among duelists that the two of you are a couple. Does Atrus have something to do with all of this?"

"That's really none of your business, Yugi. Though you might know my business much sooner than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that that gold pendant around your neck affects us all more than you know. You and I most of all. The Millennium Puzzle, I believe it's called."

"WHAT? How do you know about the Millennium Puzzle, huh?" Yugi asked her, clearly shocked.

"You'll know soon enough," Lotaru answered as she made her way to the exit. "We'll meet again, Yugi Mutou."

Lotaru left all five of them staring after her in confusion and wonderment. Once she had left the game shop she ducked back into the side alleyway and resumed her former disguise. And once she had pulled a few supplies out of her knap sack and prepared herself to stake out the game shop for the night she withdrew from the physical plain, deep inside her own mind. Into her soul room.

She had never known of the room's existence until she had come to possess the Millennium Mirror and Asinath had come to dwell within the depths of her mind. Now her mind was split into two separate soul rooms. One was hers. The other was Asinath's. This special mind link was extremely helpful when it came to private conversations.

From what Lotaru knew about her yami, Asinath was an ancient Egyptian princess turned priestess. She was also a spell mage, a most powerful sorceress. Asinath looked exactly like her hikari, only her skin was darker and her features were much sharper.

Lotaru crossed the dividing corridor between her soul room and Asinath's, searching for her yami. The ancient spirit's soul room was much more complex than her own. It was a literal maze of mirrors. Lotaru could easily get lost if Asinath didn't want to be found. But Lotaru eventually found her in one of the mirror rooms. The first thing that she noticed was that in each mirror making up the walls, was a reflection of the taller Yugi. Only this Yugi was dressed in ancient Egyptian garb. Lotaru had already guessed that this spirit was Yugi's yami. Lotaru watched as Asinath created a ball of fire in her own hands and lobbed it at one of the mirrors. The mirror and the reflection shattered on impact, only to be replaced by a new mirror and a new Yugi.

"Why did you stop me?" Asinath asked furiously as she let another fireball fly at the mirror.

"Stop you from doing what?"

"Stop me from taking control of your body back there in the game shop. We were face to face with him. I could have strangled him then and there and destroyed the Puzzle. But you held me back! Why?"

"Because you would have hurt Yugi trying to get at his yami. I know you don't want to hurt innocent people with your revenge. I also know that you can loose your control sometimes and if that happens I can't let you hurt Yugi."

"Yugi deserves to be hurt if he willingly hosts that bastard of a pharaoh!" Asinath shouted as she lobbed another fireball at the mirrors.

"Asinath, we don't even know if Yugi is theavatar for Atem. For all we know it could be that white-haired boy we saw earlier. He could be Atem's hikari. Maybe Yugi is hosting another spirit. He could be Bakura's hikari," Lotaru suggested.

"You're wrong, Lotaru! This Yugi looks exactly like Atem did when he was younger. And you know as well as I that if my plan worked Atem was bound to the Puzzle. The boy from before is the one who is hosting Bakura. I bound him to the Ring myself. There is absolutely no doubt that Yugi is the one we've been searching for."

"Still, I can't let you out when we're around him. I know that you can't keep yourself in check when faced with the possibility of killing Atem. So I'm not going to willingly release you until we know for certain that Yugi is Atem's hikari. In other words you won't be seeing the outside world unless I need your help while we're in the Duelist Kingdom."

Asinath smirked as she released another fireball. As this last one hit and the new mirror appeared the reflections of Yugi's yami vanished and Asinath finally turned to look at her hikari.

"You gamble well, my young hikari. But I have no doubt that you will be needing my help to rescue your beloved Atrus. I shall be breathing fresh air sooner than you think."

Lotaru grinned at her once before leaving. Just as soon as Lotaru had gone Asinath's friendly smirk was replaced by a look of intense concentration.

_You know little of me,_ _Lotaru,_ _if you really think that I will sit by and let you keep me locked in here_. _I should think that you would know me better after nine years_. _But still,_ _you have your strong points_. _Like your own thirst for vengeance_.

Asinath turned her attention back to the mirrors. As she gazed at her reflection in one particular mirror it changed into the reflection of Yugi Mutou's yami. The reflection of Atem.

_Your time has come at last, Atem!_ _I told you that I would return for you one day!_ _I will make you suffer for what you've done to me!_

The single reflection smirked back at her, mocking her thoughts. Asinath walked straight to it and smashed her fist directly into his face.

_I shall see you dead at my feet at last, Atem_……_my brother!_

XxX

LE: Wow! That was a pretty long chapter.

Bakura: No kidding! I'm surprised there are still any readers left at this point. I thought they would have gotten bored long before this.

LE: Shut your face, Bakura.

Bakura: If I'm annoying you so much then why did you kidnap me in the first place? You could just let me go.

LE: Oh, please don't insult my intelligence. I'm not going to let you go that easily. Not after all of the trouble I went through. In fact, I'm not gonna let you go unless I get some reviews.

Bakura: AAAAAAAARRRGGH! (Implores the audience) PLEASE! I BEG YOU! REVIEW THE STORY! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HER! SHE'S A SADISTIC PSYCHO BITCH! SHE'LL KILL ME! I KNOW IT! OR WORSE! RE IN HEAVEN, HELP MEEEEEEEEEE!

LE: Umm……just umm, that's all.


	2. He Has Come

Bakura: Angel-of-the-Apocalypse, Silver Moon Phoenix…I bow down before you, though you be only mortals. Because of you I shall be rid of Luthien Eowyn for good. 

LE: Hey, hey, hey. Who says you get to go free?

Bakura: You did! You promised I could go free if people reviewed the story! They have and now you must let me go! YOU SWORE IT!

LE: I never said how many reviews I had to get before you were freed. So I think I'll keep you around for another chapter.

Bakura: NOOOOOOOOOO! I DEMAND THAT YOU RELEASE ME, YOU BITCH OF A MORTAL!

LE: Oh, so I'm a bitch? If it's just me that's a bitch, does that mean you've met mortal women that you've liked? Hmmm?

Bakura: (Face turns a violent shade of red) NO WAY! NEVER!

LE: All right fine, don't admit it. But I think you'll be happy about this next little turn of events. I've caught you some company.

Bakura: What? Who?

(Yami tumbles out of the closet. His hands are tied behind his back.)

Yami: What's going on? Where am I? Why have you brought me here?

Bakura: You brought him here?

LE: What? I thought you might like to see him suffer.

Bakura: I may want to control the entire world and kill Yami. But even I wouldn't wish such torture on him as being stuck here with you.

Yami: (Glaring at Bakura) Tomb robber! Such a trick is worthy of you, Bakura!

Bakura: What are you looking at me for? I had absolutely nothing to do with this. I'm her prisoner too.

Yami: This is insane! Can't we just break out of here?

LE: You could, but you and I both know that you won't leave without these. (Holds up the Millennium Ring and the Millennium Puzzle.)

Yami: No! It can't be! How did you get that? Yugi had it with him when……oh no! What have you done with him?

(The audience sees Yugi, tied up and hanging out of the author's window, dangling above a pool of water. The water is churning as sea creatures swim around in it.)

Yugi: YAMI! HELP ME!

Yami: YUGI! NO!

LE: Not a sound out of you, Yami! Or Yugi gets it.

Yami: You wouldn't.

Bakura: Oh, she would.

Yami: What are those creatures?

LE: Sharks. And if you'll look closely you'll see that all of them have laser beams attached to there heads. I think it's important for every creature to have a warm meal.

(Author's Beta Sister rushes into the room.)

BetaSister: Um…about the sharks, Luthien. I went out to get some while you were out capturing Yami, just like you told me to. But the people at the aquarium said I couldn't buy any because I'm underage.

LE: I have one simple request. And that is to have SHARKS WITH FRICKIN LASER BEAMS ATTATCHED TO THEIR HEADS! What do you think I pay you for?

BS: Uh…you don't pay me.

LE: Irrelevant! What do we have then?

BS: Sea Bass.

LE: -.- Sea bass?

BS: They are mutated sea bass.

LE: Are they ill-tempered?

BS: Very.

LE: All right, fine.

(One of the sea bass fires it's laser and narrowly misses Yugi's head. )

Yugi: AAAAAAAAAARRRGGH!

LE: Begin the unnecessarily slow dipping mechanism!

(The chain that Yugi is tied to begins to descend to the pool. Veeeeeeeery sloooooowly.)

Yami: I demand that you release him this instant!

LE: Hell, it's like everyone's demanding something of me during this intro. If you two keep quiet then I might let Yugi go. And if I don't change my mind then he has until the beginning of the next chapter. I might even let you three leave.

Bakura: LIAR!

LE: Was someone TALKING?

(Yami clamps his hand down over Bakura's mouth and shakes his head no.)

LE: Good.

**Mirror of the Soul**

_Chapter 2: He Has Come_

Lotaru was awoken from her sleep by the sound of a car pulling up to the game shop. When she saw that it was a limo, she crawled further into the shadows of the alleyway, fearing that it was Pegasus. But then she saw the logo for Kaiba Corporation on it. Kaiba had returned for the Blue Eyes card.

Lotaru had slept in the alley, wrapped in her traveler's cloak and a flimsy blanket. She had kept watch almost all night. Tristan, Tea, and Joey had eventually left the shop. But Yugi and his grandfather had never come out, so Lotaru assumed that they lived in the game shop as well as working in it. She had been asleep when Yugi left for school.

A few minutes later, three KaibaCorp officials came out of the shop with Yugi's grandpa in tow. They shoved him into the limo and drove off.

"This can't be good," Lotaru said as she removed the Mirror from her cloak and removed her disguise. She then went into the game shop to wait for Yugi to return from school.

She'd been waiting for quite awhile when Yugi and his three friends walked through the door.

"Grandpa, I'm home!" Yugi called out.

"Welcome back," Lotaru said as she stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey, how was your-" Yugi started to ask, only to be cut short when he realized who was really speaking.

"Lotaru? What are you doing here? Where's Grandpa?"

"Your grandfather is in terrible danger, Yugi. I've been waiting for you to come back."

"Danger? What do you mean?"

Lotaru was about to answer when the phone rang. Yugi hesitated a moment before answering it but Lotaru nodded for him to go ahead.

"Hello, Kame Game Shop."

"Ah, Yugi. Perfect," the voice of Kaiba answered him.

"Kaiba!"

"Your grandfather's here visiting, but he's not feeling well. Maybe you should come by my office and pick him up," Kaiba said with a sinister laugh.

"Kaiba! What have you done, Kaiba?" Yugi shouted. But Kaiba had already hung up.

Yugi hung up the phone and turned to face Lotaru.

"How could you have known that?" he asked suspiciously.

"That doesn't matter now. You should go help your grandpa."

Yugi didn't ask questions. He simply raced out of the front door, his friends hot on his heels.

(Asinath?) Lotaru spoke to her dark through their mind link.

(Lotaru?)

(We need to get to the KaibaCorp headquarters. Do You know a spell that can get us there before Yugi and the others?)

(Mere child's play. But the spell is much to powerful for you to perform with your limited magic skills. You must let me take over.)

(All right.)

With that, Asinath emerged from the Mirror and took control of Lotaru's body. Then she knelt down and turned her face to the ceiling. She opened her mind to the magic energies that were hidden from humans by the veil of the mortal world. She tapped into that power with her hard-won mental control. Now all that remained was to direct the energies to her destination.

(KaibaCorp headquarters.)

Almost instantly, the game shop faded away and Asinath was surrounded by the swirling dark energies that she had summoned. Just as quickly, the warp spell passed back to the Shadow Realm and Asinath found herself standing in front of the KaibaCorp building.

She immediately hid herself in the growing shadows that the huge skyscraper cast. It wouldn't do for the boy and his friends to see her. If they saw that she had arrived before them they would start to ask questions. Questions that would only bring her and Lotaru trouble.

Asinath watched as Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Tea raced into the building. They'd be back before too long.

(Asinath, you've gotten us here. I'll take over now.)

For a moment, Asinath considered ignoring her hikari. But that wouldn't help anything. As much as she wanted to, Asinath knew that she couldn't commit murder in public. Unless Lotaru took over again, Asinath knew she wouldn't be able to control herself.

(All right.)

Just as Lotaru took control again an ambulance pulled up to the building and Joey, Tea, and Tristan came rushing out. Tristan was carrying Yugi's grandpa, who was unconscious. Lotaru raced over to them.

"What happened?" she asked the three as the paramedics took Yugi's grandpa.

"Gramps and Kaiba had a duel. Gramps lost and Kaiba took his Blue Eyes White Dragon card and ripped in half. Yugi's dueling with him now," Joey explained.

"Joey, Tristan and I will stay with Yugi's grandpa. You should stay here and cheer Yugi on," Tea suggested.

"Right," Joey said as he turned to go back into the building.

"I'll go with you," Lotaru offered, running after Joey.

"Thanks, Lotaru," Joey thanked her as he led Lotaru to the dueling arena where Yugi and Kaiba were battling.

When they entered the arena, Lotaru started to scan the scene. She saw that Kaiba had the Hitotsu-me Giant on the field and that Yugi had the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress in play. Just as she and Joey came into the arena Yugi sent the Winged Dragon to attack the Hitotsu-me Giant. As Kaiba's life points were deducted a little boy with long black hair came running into the arena.

"Big brother! Are you all right?"

"So, Kaiba has a little brother, does he?" Lotaru wondered to herself.

The shock waves from the attack had knocked Kaiba off his feet. Lotaru was used to seeing the monsters come to life, having played on virtual fields countless times before. But apparently Joey was not.

"Monsters! Real monsters!" he said, clearly shocked.

"Yes, Joey. It's a holographic playing field. So technically the monsters aren't real in that sense. They're just virtual projections," Lotaru explained.

She turned her attention back to the field just in time to see Kaiba summon Saggi the Dark Clown to the field.

"Saggi? Why him? His attack points are almost nothing compared to the Winged Dragon," Lotaru wondered out loud.

(True, but from what you've told me, this Kaiba is the champion. I doubt he got that way by being a slouch. Could I have a look at him, Lotaru?)

(I don't know. Can I trust you to take over when we're this close to Yugi?)

(Yes, you have my word, hikari. I just want to see this Kaiba. And you know I cannot do that unless I have access to your senses.)

(All right, then. You can see him.)

Asinath took control once more and turned her gaze to Kaiba. When she saw his face she gave a small cry and fell backwards.

"Lotaru, are you all right?" Joey asked as he turned back to help her back to her feet.

"Of course I'm all right! Why wouldn't I be? I just tripped, that's all!" Asinath replied angrily, refusing his hand and pulling herself to her feet. She was angry with herself for letting her surprise show.

"Ok, sheesh. Sorry I asked," Joey said as he turned back to the match. Kaiba had armed Saggi with a magic card and destroyed the Winged Dragon.

Meanwhile, Lotaru was waiting in her soul room, trying to sense what was happening on the outside, when she felt a sudden jolt of emotion from her dark. A bolt of familiarity.

(Asinath, what's going on out there? What happened?)

(Kaiba. Seto Kaiba!) Asinath stuttered, still in shock.

(What about him?)

(He looks so much like Seth.)

(Seth? The Priest?)

(Yes, him. And the two aren't just similar. They look exactly alike. If it weren't for those modern clothes he could _be_ Seth. And their names are so similar too. Seth and Seto.)

(So what do you make of it?)

(Seth was never bound to a Millennium Item. So it couldn't be that. He could be a reincarnation.)

(Seriously? My God!)

(Come on. Haven't you been with me long enough to know that such magic is very real? In a way you are my reincarnation. And you yourself have worked with magic with my help. Why does it surprise you so much?)

(I don't know. But hey, what's happening on the field now?)

(Yugi, or should I say, his yami, Atem, summoned Gaia, the Fierce Knight and destroyed Saggi. But Kaiba countered with two Blue Eyes White Dragons and destroyed Gaia.)

(Two Blue Eyes? So I was right.)

(Indeed, and I have a feeling that it's not stopping there. Atem has now played Swords of Revealing Light and Kaiba has countered with the Judge Man.)

(For the last time, Asinath, we don't know if Yugi's really hosting Atem. Can you please call him Yugi, or yami, at least?)

(No. Now that I have seen him, there is no doubt in my mind that this is Atem. The resemblance is unmistakable. Especially now that I see the card that he counters the Judge Man with. The Dark Magician. Atem's faithful servant, Mahado.)

(The Dark Magician, is it?)

(Yes, and he's taken out the Judge Man. Now Kaiba summons a third Blue Eyes White Dragon.)

(A third! What next?)

(Next is total annihilation. The Swords of Revealing Light card will wear off next turn and the Dragons will obliterate the Dark Magician and Atem's life points.)

(Asinath, let me take over. I want to see how this ends.)

(All right. I can't get to Atem now anyway.) Asinath said as she relinquished control of the vessel to Lotaru.

As Lotaru came to control her body once more Joey turned back to her.

"Lotaru, I don't know much about Duel Monsters, but even this isn't looking good. Is there any move that Yugi can make to turn the match around?"

"From where I'm standing, no, there isn't. Not unless Yugi has some miracle card in his deck that we don't know about."

But no sooner had the words left her mouth than Kaiba began to taunt Yugi again.

"Why don't you draw your last pathetic card so I can end this match."

"Kaiba, my grandfather's deck doesn't have any pathetic cards. But it does contain……the unstoppable Exodia!"

"Exodia? No way!" Lotaru said, shocked.

"I've managed to gather all five pieces of the puzzle. And now I summon Exodia!"

With that a great vortex appeared on the field and the Forbidden One emerged from it.

"Exodia! It's not possible! No one's ever been able to call him!" Kaiba shouted out, just as shocked as Lotaru.

"EXODIA! OBLITERATE!" Yami summoned the monster to attack and all three of the Blue Eyes White Dragons were destroyed, along with the remainder of Kaiba's life points.

"No. I Lost. But how?"

"You duel only for power, Kaiba. And that is why you lost. There is more to this game than power. You must believe in the heart of the cards."

"But how could a kid like you defeat me? ME!"

"Kaiba, if you truly want to know…open your MIND!" as Yami said this he threw his hands in the air and shock waves could be seen traveling across the field. As they hit Kaiba he collapsed to his knees. When Lotaru looked into his eyes she could see that something was gone from them. Or something was added. She couldn't tell, but she knew that Yami had just invoked the powers of the Millennium Puzzle and used them on Kaiba.

(What just happened, Asinath?)

(Atem has used the Puzzle.)

(Tell me something I don't know. What did he do?)

(He has removed all of the negative energy from Kaiba's soul.)

(What does that mean exactly?)

(All of the bad influences that guided Seto Kaiba's actions have been removed. He is free of all negativity. He might be considered a pure spirit now but Kaiba may find it difficult to exist without all of those negative energies. Negativity may not be the best guide in a duel, or in life, but it is a powerful guide none-the-less. And by the way, Lotaru, I believe now would be a good time to take your leave.)

"Oh yeah, that's right," Lotaru said as she went to join Yugi and Joey.

"What's right, Lotaru?" Joey asked.

"Oh, nothing. Congratulations, Yugi. You'll be famous for this, you know."

"I don't care about that. All I wanted to do was teach Kaiba a lesson about the heart of the cards."

"Well, whether or not you want it, you'll be famous for beating the world champion."

"Ya know, Yug, she's got a point. Even if the match was unofficial," Joey told him.

"See you around, guys. I've got places to be," Lotaru said as she turned to leave.

"Wait! Don't go yet! I have a lot of questions for you!" Yugi tried to call her back.

"I'm sure you do. But you'll have to save them for another time. You're not ready yet."

"Not ready yet? What's that supposed to mean?" Yugi asked her.

"Not now, Yugi. You'll understand sooner or later. But for now I have to leave you. We'll meet again, Yugi. Make no mistake," Lotaru said as she left the dueling arena.

"Lotaru, wait! LOTARU!" Yugi called after her. But she was already gone.

_Pegasus will come to him soon after that display. Of that I have no doubt. This match will become famous in the dueling world, as will Yugi. You don't realize it, Yugi, but you've set the wheels in motion._

"It's begun," Lotaru said to herself as she strode out of the KaibaCorp building.

XxX

Lotaru spent nearly a week camping out in the alley behind the game shop without anyone discovering her. She was only waiting for the right time to make herself known. That time came nearly a week after Yugi's duel with Kaiba when a package arrived for him from Industrial Illusions. Lotaru didn't need the Mirror to tell her that it was an invitation to the Duelist Kingdom from Pegasus.

She immediately took out the Mirror and placed it against the back wall of the game shop.

"Reveal the truth to me," she whispered to the Mirror.

Then she pulled the Mirror away from the wall and looked into it. Easily seeing what was happening in the living room.

Yugi and his friends were watching the Duel Monsters Regional Tournament. Weevil Underwood against Rex Raptor. Lotaru felt a small twinge of jealousy. It should have been her up there. She had defeated Rex Raptor. If Pegasus hadn't stepped in she would still be in the tournament competing for the title and the prize money that she and Atrus had always so desperately needed. She had also heard that Kaiba had dropped out of the competition after his defeat at Yugi's hands. Maybe now he would understand her reasons a little bit better.

The match ended with Weevil as the victor. He won the title and an invite to the Duelist Kingdom Tournament.

But once the tournament had ended and Yugi had opened the package, that was when the hell fire started.

The package contained a dueling glove, two star chips, and a video tape. They popped the tape into the T.V. set and it opened with a greeting from Pegasus. And, just as Lotaru expected, Pegasus challenged Yugi to a duel then and there……in the Shadow Realm.

Lotaru used the Mirror to penetrate the confines of the Shadow Realm and continued to watch the duel. There was a time limit of fifteen minutes and Pegasus had already taken out Yugi's Curse of Dragon. It was here that Yugi came face to face with another Millennium Item for the very first time. The Millennium Eye of Pegasus. Yugi could no longer hide anything from Pegasus.

Yugi summoned the Dark Magician but Pegasus countered with the Faceless Mage and Eye of Illusion, using them to turn Yugi's own attacks against him.

But just as time was running out Yugi called forth the Summoned Skull. He would have indeed won the match if time hadn't run out before the Summoned Skull could attack. But the clock ran out and Pegasus won. And, as he released Yugi from the Shadow Realm, he used the power of the Millennium Eye to steal the soul of Yugi's grandpa.

"Grandpa!"

"We will duel again, Yugi Mutou. Only next time the stakes will be much higher!" Pegasus warned Yugi as the T.V fizzled out and Pegasus took his leave. He left Yugi desperately beating his fists against the unyielding T.V. screen.

"Grandpa! GRANDPA!" Yugi screamed at the television until he had completely worn himself out.

XxX

Later that night, after the other three had gone home, Lotaru called on Asinath to disable the locks on the game shop. Then she made her way to the back of the shop. Where, beyond that, Yugi and his grandpa had their home. She went to the second floor and searched the rooms until she found Yugi, alone in his room.

"Yugi?"

The young teen looked up in shock.

"Lotaru? But…how did you get in here? The door was locked."

"Locks cannot hinder me. But never mind that now. We have a lot to talk about. He's come to you, hasn't he?"

"Who?"

"Pegasus. You've dueled with him in the Shadow Realm."

"How could you possibly know about that?" Yugi demanded of her, fire burning in his eyes.

"I have my ways, Yugi Mutou. Pegasus isn't the only one with connections to the Shadow Realm."

"Lotaru, how do you know about all of this? You're on his side, aren't you!" Yugi accused furiously.

"Yugi, listen to me. I could never be on Pegasus' side. Clear your mind. Your anger is blinding you."

"HE HAS MY GRANDFATHER'S SOUL!" Yugi cried out, slamming his fist down into his bed mattress.

"I know that," Lotaru said, remaining calm in the face of Yugi's anger and fear.

"But how-"

"Never mind that. But know this. Never let Pegasus or anyone else get their hands on your Millennium Puzzle. That item has more power than you know."

"What do you know about my Puzzle? How do you know about it? Do you have one of those Millennium Items that Pegasus was talking about?"

"Tell no one that we have spoken. I will see you again before too long," Lotaru said as she walked to the door, staunchly refusing to answer his questions.

"Wait, Lotaru! Why do you keep coming and going like this? Can't you tell me anything?"

Lotaru paused on her way down the stairs. She clutched at her head in pain. Asinath was trying to get free.

"Yugi, please... don't ask questions. I'd stay and explain but I don't know how much longer I can stay in control, and if I lose control……it will be all over for you," Lotaru explained, trying to stay in control, despite the mental strain that Asinath was putting on her.

"What do you mean by-" Yugi started to ask. But before he could finish speaking Lotaru had fled down the stairs and out of the game shop. She could feel her own hands twitching with Asinath's readiness to strangle the boy.

She collapsed back inside the alleyway, breathing hard and sweating profusely from the pain of Asinath's magic.

"I can't let you hurt Yugi, Asinath……no matter what you do to me. I can't let you take an innocent life," Lotaru swore as she passed out cold on the pavement.

XxX

LE: Go me! Another chapter.

(Yami and Bakura remain silent)

LE: What? No sarcastic comments, Bakura? Oooooooh, right. Yugi's still dangling out there with the sea bass.

(Audience sees Yugi hanging over the sea bass pool. Only now he's much closer to the surface.)

LE: This is getting boring. I think I'll add a little twist.

(Ryou suddenly appears, dangling from a chain next to Yugi.)

Yugi: Ryou?

Ryou: Yugi?

Bakura: Ryou?

Ryou: Bakura?

Yami: Ryou?

Ryou: Yami?

Bakura: Yugi?

Yugi: Bakura?

Yami: Yugi?

Yugi: Yami?

Yami: Bakura?

Bakura: Yami?

LE: Crabcakes!

Yami & Bakura: Whaaaaaaat?

Ryou: Hey, Yugi. What's going on?

Yugi: Well basically we've been kidnapped by Luthien Eowyn and we are currently dangling over a churning pit of doom filled with blood thirsty sharks.

Yami: Sea bass.

Bakura: Mutated sea bass.

Yugi: Whatever. So now you know.

Ryou: All righty then. So, any escape plans underway?

Yugi: Nope.

Ryou: Oh, ok.

Bakura: What are you two? Crazy? You're not chatting over a cup of tea. This is life and death here!

LE: Hey, you! Shut your trap. If you and Yami don't keep quiet then next chapter, Yugi and Ryou bite the big one.

Bakura: That could be so dirty if you thought about it.

LE: Then don't think about it. Now shut up so I can write chapter three. It's bad enough that I have to look at you without having to listen to you.

Bakura: How that crushes me.

Yami: (To the audience) Please. Your reviews are the only things that can save our hikaris. You don't want to see them brutally ripped apart by rabid sea bass do you? SAVE THEM!


	3. Saving Exodia

LE: Silver Moon Phoenix, as you have made a plea for the lives of Yugi Mutou and Ryou Bakura, I guess I'll keep them around for another chapter. 

Yami: YES! Thank you Silver Moon Phoenix, for your mercy. You've bought us more time.

LE: And, thank you for your support of the story. But, since I don't get to kill the two hikaris I'll have to add to the stakes. (She snaps her fingers and Mokuba appears, dangling from a chain next to Yugi and Ryou.)

Yugi: Mokuba?

Mokuba: Yugi?

Ryou: Mokuba?

Mokuba: Ryou?

Yugi: Ryou?

Ryou: Yugi?

Yami: Mokuba?

Mokuba: Yami?

Bakura: Moku-

LE: Don't start! I got enough of that last chapter and it'll only get worse from here. Besides, you didn't let me finish.

(BetaSister enters the room, leading a bound, blind folded, and gagged Seto Kaiba.)

LE: Remove the gag!

(BS takes the sock out of his mouth.)

Kaiba: WHERE'S MOKUBA? WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT US HERE? WAS THAT A_ SOCK_ IN MY MOUTH?

LE: (Ignoring Seto) Remove the blindfold!

(BS takes off the blindfold.)

Kaiba: Yami! Bakura! What's going on? Where's my brother?

Yami: Now, Kaiba, don't be angry. But Luthien Eowyn has taken Mokuba prisoner.

Kaiba: No? Really? I had no idea! But where's she keeping him?

Yami: Well……um (glances towards the open window.)

(Kaiba races to the window and looks out to see Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba dangling over the pit of doom, inching ever closer to the roiling surface.)

Kaiba: MOKUBA!

Mokuba: BIG BROTHER! SAVE ME!

Kaiba: You monster! I demand that you release my brother immediately!

LE: Again with the demanding. I'm getting tired of that. Now go and join your fellow captives.

Kaiba: NEVER! You obviously don't know who you're dealing with. And you must not know how far I'm willing to go to rescue Mokuba.

LE: Oh, I know who I'm dealing with and I'm not worried. Wanna make a bet on who's faster? Your calling some guards over from KaibaCorp, or, my flipping the switch and sending Mokuba into the pit of doom. My money's on Mokuba. Care to wager your brother's life? Hmm?

Kaiba: What are those things anyway?

Yami: Sea bass.

Bakura: Mutated sea bass.

LE: Whatever. Now Kaiba, you try my patience. Make your choice!

Kaiba: (hissing) Fine. (Sits down with the two dark spirits.)

Bakura: Welcome to the club.

LE: EH! SHUT IT!

(Bakura's about to say something when Kaiba and Yami clamp their hands down on his mouth.)

LE: Better.

**Mirror of the Soul**

_Chapter 3: Saving Exodia_

"Nice digs," Lotaru whistled as she gazed around her cabin.

It had been nearly a week since the incident at the game shop. Lotaru was now on board a ship headed for Duelist Kingdom. She was one of the lucky few to receive a room. Only finalists from the Regional Tournament had been granted cabins on the ship. Originally it would have been her and Kaiba to get rooms but Kaiba had declined the invitation to Duelist Kingdom. So Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood had received them. But because she was one of the original finalists she was also given a room during the voyage.

"What are you trying to do, Pegasus? Bribe me?" Lotaru wondered out loud as she looked around her plush new quarters. She wasn't used to accommodations as fancy as these. It seemed a bit confining to her, so after she had dropped her bag off she went back up on deck to scope out the competition. Almost instantly she came across Yugi and Joey.

"Why hello, Joey. Yugi," she said to each of them in turn.

"Hey, Lotaru. I didn't know you were coming to the Duelist Kingdom too," Joey said in greeting.

"I didn't think I'd be seeing you here either," Lotaru said with a malicious glint in her eyes. She had overheard him and Yugi talking just before she came up. She discovered that Joey hadn't actually been invited to the tournament and that Yugi had given him one of his two star chips so that he could compete. Maybe she could get them to confess to her just by staring at them long enough.

Both boys began to squirm under her harsh glare.

"I thought duelists were given two star chips to start out with," Lotaru said, making it painfully obvious that she knew what they were up to.

"Is it really that obvious?" Joey mumbled, his face turning redder by the second..

"No, actually, it isn't. I just pay attention. So should you. Pay attention to how loud your voices are when you talk about things like that," she advised.

"Well, what do we have here?" said a sugary sweet voice behind them.

The three turned to see a tall woman approaching them. She was dressed in a purple mini skirt, jacket, and knee-high boots. She carried a large knap sack over her shoulder and she had golden hair that flowed down her back. As Lotaru's eyes slid over to Joey she saw that his mouth was hanging open slightly and he was drooling.

"Woah!"

"Oh, boy," Lotaru said as she slammed her face into her hands. This was going to be painful to watch.

"So you're the Yugi kid everybody keeps talking about."

"Um…yeah."

"But I'm amazed that a squirt like you could beat Kaiba. You're famous, you know," she said.

"Uh……thanks very much, I think," Yugi said, still stunned.

"Hey, miss. I'm a really good friend of the famous Yugi, the master duelist. In fact-" Joey started to say.

"Look! You're either a champ or a chump! Cut this guy loose. He's fashion challenged and deserves to be crushed in the games," the woman told Yugi, finally revealing her true nature.

"Oh, please. Crush me," Joey begged, practically crawling at her feet.

"I'll crush you all eventually. The name's Mai," she said as she walked away.

"Oh, brother. That was pathetic, Joey. You do know that, don't you?" Lotaru said.

"Hey, I bet I could win her over easy. I just need a better pick up line."

"Yugi, keep an eye on him. I'm surprised that you actually helped him board this ship. He won't last five minutes when we get to Duelist Kingdom. I've seen guys fall at a woman's feet before, but that was ridiculous."

"Aw, come on. Give Joey a break, Lotaru. He's a better duelist than you know," Yugi said in defense of his friend.

"Well, lets hope so, for his sake. I'd hate to see how he behaves around Mai in a duel," Lotaru said as she too walked away.

"How arrogant!" Lotaru heard someone hiss from the far end of the deck.

"Quiet, Tea, or you're gonna get us busted," another voice tried to shush the first one.

Lotaru's gaze slid to where she heard the voices coming from. Her eyes searched the darkness and finally found a small figure crouching next to some crates. She saw a pink vest and a flash of brown hair before the figure was pulled completely behind the pile of crates. That was all she needed to see.

"So, Tea and Tristan snuck aboard as well," she whispered to herself as she walked further along the deck. Most of the other duelists had already gone inside for the night. But she could still see one person hanging out above decks. And it was just the person she was looking for.

The white-haired boy with the Millennium Ring whom she had seen with Yugi on her first day in Domino. She had seen him board earlier, but she had the feeling that he wasn't an official duelist. And if that was the case, then why had he come? Lotaru intended to find out here and now. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to learn about his Millennium Ring.

The boy was staring out to sea and he didn't even notice her when she came up behind him. Before she lost the element of surprise she quickly grabbed his wrist and yanked him around to face her. He was just starting to cry out in shock when Lotaru clamped her free hand down on his mouth to muffle his shouts.

"Be quiet! I won't hurt you. Now follow me," she hissed.

The pale teen nodded in response and remained silent as she took her hand away from his mouth and proceeded to lead him away from the main deck.

"What do you want with me? Why can't we talk up here?" he asked her. The boy spoke with a British accent.

"Because I don't want to be overheard," she whispered back.

She led him back inside the ship, away from the prying eyes of the other duelists and to her own cabin. She immediately pulled up a chair for him and sat him down in it. Without any preliminaries, she began her questioning.

"You're not an official duelist, are you," she said, stating it as a fact rather than as a question.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm-"

"Don't play the innocent with me. What's your name, boy?"

"Ryou. Ryou Bakura," he answered.

"Bakura? Did you say Bakura?" Lotaru asked, turning to face him. Once again, she felt that same shock of familiarity from her darker self.

_It's him!_

"Yes."

"And, what about that Millennium Ring you're wearing under your shirt?"

"What do you know about the Millennium Ring?" he asked, clearly shocked.

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you."

(Lotaru, let me speak to him.)

(Can I trust you?)

(You can trust me, but I'm not so sure that you can trust him.)

(What do you mean?)

(Whoever Ryou Bakura is, this is not him that you're speaking to. It is the spirit of his Millennium Ring. I sense the darkness within him. I recognize it. The boy even bears the name that the spirit once used. And this boy looks so much like him too.)

(Oh. Well, maybe you could get him to talk then.)

(I'm sure I could if you'd just let me out.)

(All right. Here goes nothing.)

But just as they were switching minds, Bakura began to speak again. Only now his voice was deeper and much more threatening.

"You might be asking me now, but soon you won't remember any of this. Millennium Ring……CLEAR HER MEMORY!" Bakura shouted, invoking the power of the Ring. And as he said this the Ring itself appeared, hanging from his neck. The Ring glowed as it gathered strength.

But Asinath had taken control just in time to cast a spell of her own. A shielding spell that protected her from Bakura's memory wipe. She sat still for a moment, trying to keep her face completely blank, pretending that his spell had worked.

"Foolish mortal. No one comes up behind me more than once," Bakura laughed as he stood to leave the room.

Just as he reached the door, Asinath began to laugh softly. And as the spirit turned to see what was so funny she laughed even harder at the shocked expression on his face, her laughter laced with her own malice.

"Do not try to manipulate me, Bakura. For I know your ways."

"How could you possibly remember that name? I cleared your memory!"

"Did you now? You cannot use magic against me. I have learned just as much magic as you have. You are not the only one who has had centuries of practice, locked in the Shadow Realm."

"But how? How could a mere mortal like you counter such a powerful charm?"

"I am no mere mortal, Bakura. Have you not already guessed who I really am?" she asked, peering at him through the slits that were her eyes.

"No, it cannot be! Asinath?"

"Exactly. It took you long enough. Your heart has grown soft during these millennia of imprisonment. And your wit has dulled. When I last knew you, you would have slain your hikari before even bothering to learn his name."

"Times have changed. Killing is no longer so simple. But what of you? I see that the spell worked. We did survive after all," Bakura said with a smirk.

"Indeed. I should think that you would know the arts better by now. Why shouldn't it have worked?"

"The Pharaoh and his priests. They could have destroyed the Mirror to ensure that you and I did not succeed."

"No, Bakura. Destroy one item and you destroy them all. Besides, I have returned and my hate is stronger than ever. As is my magic."

"Is your hate really so powerful?"

"Why do you question me?"

"You say that I have grown soft. You are not doing too much better. You actually allow your avatar freedom? At least I keep mine suppressed."

"We have an understanding. My avatar is stronger than you know. She actually has the capacity to learn magic and I am teaching her."

"An impressive feat for a mortal of this weak, modern world. But I still say that it is you who has grown soft. Has your hikari talked you into letting your brother live? Does she have so much power over you?"

"Never! No one can ever talk me out of my vengeance. Make no mistake, I will kill him! I'll rip his heart out and smear his blood across the Earth!" she swore.

"Well, perhaps I was wrong. You are, perhaps, even more violent than I was. I shall hold you to that promise. So, are we sticking to the original plan?"

"Of course. Like you said before, times have changed, but there is no reason not to. You can have the Puzzle. Just stay out of my way," having said this, Asinath walked past Bakura and opened the door for him.

"Kicking me out so soon? I've got no place to stay for the night," Bakura purred as he walked over to her. When he reached her he immediately grabbed both of her wrists and twisted her arms painfully behind her back. He then pulled her closer, fitting his own body to the curves of hers. He brought forth his free hand and brought it to rest on her bare stomach beneath her shirt. He buried his face in her raven hair, breathing in the scent that he had been deprived of for so long. He allowed his hand to creep up her stomach until he had reached her chest, cursing the fabric of the bra that he felt there for preventing him from touching her.

She tensed up at his touch but she allowed him to play with her for a few moments. As she leaned her head back onto his neck, she whispered to him.

"What are you doing?"

"I was just imagining a knife against that beautiful neck of yours. Blood dripping down your front and onto my hands," he whispered into her hair, trying to get his hand beneath the bra.

"I know what you're imagining," she whispered back. There was now a hint of warning in her voice.

"Hmm, clever girl. Perhaps we could make it a bit more than imagining."

"You lost your chance centuries ago. Keep this up and you'll lose something else," she said through the moan that escaped her lips. Bakura had finally managed to get his hand under her bra.

"You don't sound too terribly convinced of that," he moaned as he tightened his grip on her.

"Oh, but I am."

"I can hurt you, you know. Is that what you want?" he asked as his hands explored her.

"Not if you are dead," she answered as she lifted one of her newly freed hands up and tangled it in Bakura's creamy tresses.

He didn't answer this time. He lifted his head up from her back and gently licked her ear, slowly dragging his tongue down her neck. This caused her to moan very loudly. He loved having that kind of power over her. So he tried it again, causing her to tighten her grip on the back of his head. He then slid his other hand under her shirt, purring seductively as Asinath let her other hand travel a little ways down his leg. Bakura shivered with pleasure.

But suddenly she tensed up again.

"You will remove your hands," she said. The cold edge had returned to her voice.

"You didn't say please," he teased as he planted a rough kiss on the back of her neck.

With that she yanked his hands out from under her shirt and turned to face him. She then grabbed both of his shoulders and shoved him out of the room. He landed hard on his rear. Yelping in a very undignified manner and then glaring up at her.

"Please," she said, anger dripping from that one syllable.

Bakura jumped up. The Millennium Ring began to glow as his furry grew. The five spikes that adorned the Ring rose up from Bakura's chest of their own accord. He walked slowly towards Asinath.

"I could kill you right now. You fool!" he hissed as the Ring began to vibrate.

"But you won't," she said calmly as she slammed the door in his face.

Bakura slammed his fist into the closed door once before heading back above decks.

"Just you wait, Asinath," he muttered to himself under his breath. "You might have avoided it this time. But I had you all of those centuries ago, and I'll have you again before you and I leave this world."

XxX

(So, what exactly happened between you and Bakura just now?) Lotaru asked Asinath as she made her way out into the open air again. Once Bakura had left Asinath had let Lotaru take control again and Lotaru had decided that her time was best spent monitoring Yugi. So now she was headed for the upper decks again.

(It's none of you concern.) Asinath answered in a huff.

Lotaru's perception wasn't as strong as Asinath's so she couldn't always sense what was happening as well as Asinath could when she was stuck in her soul room. So she had to rely on her dark for details.

(I think it is. Why don't you want to talk about it?)

(Why do you _want_ to talk about it?) Asinath shot back at her hikari.

(Because I want to know what we're dealing with in this Bakura guy. You've told me about him before but I want to know more.)

(It was nothing of any importance.) Asinath said.

(Suuuuuuuure it wasn't. But if you don't want to talk about it, fine.) Lotaru said as she closed the link and turned her attention to the world around her. Without even realizing it, she had wondered straight to Yugi and Joey once more. But before they could see her she ducked back into the shadows. Almost as soon as she had crouched down out of sight, Weevil Underwood came out onto the deck with the two friends.

"Ah, the evening breeze feels so nice," he said as he walked to the railing. "So, tell me, Yugi. Did you trade for any good cards?" he asked.

"Nah. I'm gonna duel with the cards I brought along with me," Yugi answered casually.

"I figured as much. You used the Exodia cards in your duel with Kaiba, right? Those are the strongest cards of them all," Weevil said, a mischievous glint suddenly appeared in his eyes as he spoke.

"And really rare," Yugi added, completely oblivious to Weevil's new attitude.

"Could I possibly……see those legendary cards?" Weevil asked excitedly.

"Don't do it, you idiot. Can't you see that he's planning something?" Lotaru hissed under breath.

"I don't see why not. Just be careful with them, ok," Yugi said as he took out the five cards and handed them to Weevil.

"Oh, great. Now he's done it," Lotaru whispered to herself.

"So these are the cards to summon Exodia? For a long time I've been trying to come up with some sort of strategy to finally beat these cards. But I couldn't come up with anything. Until just this moment," Weevil said as he walked back to the railing.

"Huh?" Yugi was completely baffled, but he followed Weevil to the rail anyway.

"NOW SAY GOOD-BYE TO EXODIAAAAA!" Weevil shouted out triumphantly as he flung the cards into the ocean.

"NOOOOO!" Yugi screamed as the five cards floated away.

"Now there's no one who can challenge me!" Weevil said, laughing wickedly as he walked away.

"Why you-" Joey shouted angrily at Weevil's retreating back.

"My cards! Those were the Exodia cards that my grandpa gave me!" Yugi cried out desperately as he leaned over the side.

"If they mean so much to you then why did you let Weevil touch them? Honestly Yugi, you're way too trusting," Lotaru whispered as she watched from the shadows.

"Don't worry, Yug. I'll get 'em," Joey said as he leapt over the railing and into the sea.

"JOEY, DON'T! WHERE ARE YOU?" Yugi cried out as his friend vanished into the water.

"I promise you. I'll find 'em," Joey said as he struggled to stay afloat.

"Joey, they're not worth drowning over!"

"Don't worry, Yugi. See, I already found one!" Joey called back as he fished for more of the cards.

"Joey, swim back to the ship!"

"No way, at least this time there's something I can do to help someone I care about. Current sure is strong though. It's……hard to fight. But if I punk out now……who's gonna help my sister…Serenity?" Joey said to himself as he swam through the water, hunting for the cards.

Finally he managed to get a hold of the second one.

"Great……just…three more now."

"JOEY!" Yugi cried out as he too dove over the side to help his friend.

"Hold on Joey!" Yugi called as he grabbed onto Joey's limp body.

"Yugi, just three more," Joey whispered, half delirious from swallowing the sea water.

Lotaru was about to step in and help when Tea and Tristan came running up. The two threw a life preserver to Joey and Yugi and pulled them back onto the ship.

And as Joey and Yugi sat on the deck, coughing and spluttering, Lotaru learned about Joey's motivation for sneaking to Duelist Kingdom. She heard the story of his sister, Serenity, who would soon go blind without an operation. That was why Joey needed the prize money. To pay for that operation.

Once the foursome had left to get dried off, Lotaru stepped out of the shadows and gazed out to sea.

"Maybe I was wrong about you, Joey," she whispered to the night air.

But just as soon as the confession had left her lips she snapped back to reality. The sun would rise soon and she needed at least an hour of sleep before they arrived at Duelist Kingdom. And there was work to be done.

Lotaru really didn't want to bug Asinath with this because she had seemed really worn out after the encounter with Bakura. So she decided to attempt this spell on her own.

Lotaru knelt down on the deck. She cleared her mind and focused on the darkness. She let the mortal plain slip away from her eyes and she reached out to the Shadow Realm. The seed of all magic. Then she let the shadows fill her mind, concentrating on the magical energies that were now laid bare before her mind's eye. She gathered the energy around her like a great blanket of darkness, just as Asinath had taught her. Soon she was engulfed by the shadow magic that she had summoned.

By now Lotaru was growing weak. Her body and mind were not used to the strain of using such magic. She could do very little without passing out. And now, on the verge of losing consciousness, Lotaru focused on the three missing Exodia cards with all of her might. She saw the cards before her in her mind's eye. With the last of her strength she called them up from the sea and into her hands.

Finally Lotaru allowed the spell to slip back to the Shadow Realm. She tried to stand but instantly swooned to the floor. Fighting to stay conscious, Lotaru stared down at the cards in her hand. The three pieces of Exodia. These could definitely come in handy sometime soon.

Lotaru eventually gained back enough strength to make the walk back down to her cabin. She didn't even bother to tuck herself into the bed before crashing down upon it and falling asleep within moments. Summoning the magic had greatly taxed her strength.

(Sleep while you can, hikari. It won't be long before you are forced to call on magic again. Magic much stronger than a simple summoning spell.) Asinath said to her sleeping light as she crossed the corridor from Lotaru's soul room back into her own.

As the sun rose over the horizon and turned the deep blackness of the ocean into a beautiful blue green, the ship made berth at the Duelist Kingdom. Private island of Maximillion Pegasus.

And as the island came into view, four best friends stood at the bow of the ship, dreaming of cash prizes and saving lives. Bakura lurked somewhere in the underbelly of the ship, brooding over his loss of Asinath. And Lotaru lay asleep on her bed as the morning sun light slowly crept over her body, breathing new life into her tired limbs.

The stage was set. The road ahead would not be an easy one to walk.

XxX

LE: Well, there's chapter three for ya.

Bakura: Exactly. Will you let us go this time?

LE: Hell no! This is fun. I like torturing you three.

Bakura: Well, hallelujah. What are you gonna add to the stakes this time?

LE: Nothing right now. I think I'll just watch you guys suffer.

(Meanwhile, the audience rejoins Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba above the pit of doom.)

Ryou: So the monkey says to the Rabbi-

Mokuba: Um……guys?

Ryou: Excuse me! You're interrupting the punch line.

Mokuba: Sorry.

Kaiba: Stop apologizing!

Mokuba: Sorry.

Bakura: I don't think the poor sap gets it.

Kaiba: Don't call my brother a sap!

Bakura: BITE ME!

Mokuba: Uh……guys. Is this really the best time to be telling jokes? We're about to be brutally ripped apart by a pack of rabid tuna.

Yami: Sea bass.

Bakura: Mutated sea bass.

Yugi: Whatever, so what happened next?

LE: IF I HEAR EITHER OF YOU SAY THE WORD MONKEY ONE MOE TIME IT'S INTO THE PIT WITH YOU!

Yugi: Moe?

LE: Yes! Moe!

(Suddenly a giant black cat appears in the room. Affectionately known as the cat in the hat.)

Yami: Who are you?

CitH: Why I'm the cat in the hat. There's no doubt about that.

LE: Right, there is no doubt about that. There's also no doubt that you're even more lost than you think, cuz your in the wrong story.

CitH: Oh, sorry abut that. I'll be going then. (Vanishes in a puff of smoke)

Bakura: WAIT! TAKE US WITH YOU!

LE: Oooooooh, how sad. You missed your chance. Oh well, guess you're stuck here with me.

Bakura: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ryou: Well, that was random.

Yugi: Extremely.

Mokuba: So what happens now?

Kaiba: Maybe Luthien will let us go.

Ryou: Maybe she'll untie us.

Bakura: Maybe a hundred squirrels will pop out of the drain and tap dance across the roof.

Everyone else: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?

Bakura: Well, as long as we're dreaming I figured that I'd throw that one at you.

Yami: You know, he's got a point.

LE: All righty then. Enough with the chit chatting. The audience has until the release of chapter four to review or these three get their heads ripped off.

Bakura; That doesn't inspire pleasant images.

Kaiba: And how long, pray tell, will that be?

LE: You know, I'm not sure. You never can tell with me. They might have a month. They might have two days. You never can tell.

Kaiba: Please! Anybody out there! Review the story! DON'T LET HER KILL MOKUBA!

LE: Kaiba, you need help.


	4. Coming of the Kingdom

LE: Silver Moon Phoenix, thank you much for reviewing again. 1324, thank you also for reviewing. And as for your question. Asinath's not really either at the moment. She's...confused, shall we say. She does have a good reason for being pissed at Yami though. That will be explained later in the story. 

Bakura: Later? How much more of the story is left?

LE: Quite a bit actually. But I thought you might enjoy it a bit more now. After all, you got some action in the last chapter.

(Bakura turns bright red and hides behind Kaiba.)

Kaiba: Yeah right, like that would ever happen.

Bakura: Hey, I resent that!

Kaiba: I'm sure you do. Now shut up and let go of my leg.

Bakura: Oh. (Realizes that he is in fact, latched onto Kaiba's leg for dear life.) Sorry.

LE: (stares at the two, mouth wide open.) Um...riiiiiiiiight. I think I'm gonna take a break real fast. I need a snack. If you three try anything while I'm gone, you're gonna regret it. (Leaves)

Yami: There's got to be some way out of here. But what?

Bakura: (jumps up and begins to pace around the room) Maybe I could send her to the Shadow Realm. No, never mind, not without the Ring.

Kaiba: Maybe we could duel our way out of here. The three of us could challenge Luthien to a duel. Nothing in her deck could stand against my Blue Eyes White Dragons.

Yami: Actually Kaiba, she was showing me her dueling deck earlier and she also has a Blue Eyes White Dragon. Besides, even if we could defeat her in a duel she'd just rewrite it so that she won.

Kaiba: Rewrite it? So technically there's nothing that we can do because she could just rewrite the entire thing so that we never escaped?

Yami: Yeah, pretty much.

Bakura: (Still pacing) There's got to be something we've missed.

(Yami and Kaiba start pacing too, for lack of something better to do. They fall into step behind Bakura and copy his every move. Down to the very last scratch of the head.)

Bakura: Something will come to us.

Yami: Something will come to us.

Kaiba: Something will come to us.

Bakura: A plan, a plan.

Yami: A plan, a plan.

Kaiba: A plan, a plan.

Bakura: (To Yami) Will you stop doing that!

Yami: (To Kaiba) Will you stop doing that!

Kaiba: (To empty air) Will you stop doing that!

Bakura: Oh that's really mature, saying exactly what I say.

Yami: Oh that's really mature, saying exactly what I say.

Kaiba: Oh that's really mature, saying exactly what I say.

Bakura: I'm an idiot!

Yami & Kaiba: YOU'RE AN IDIOT!

Bakura: Fine, I'm not talking to you anymore. That way you two will have nothing to repeat and you'll have to shut up.

Yami & Kaiba: (hesitate for a minute) YOU'RE AN IDIOT!

(Bakura walks away from the two to think some more when he spots a lever on Luthien's wall. A lever labeled "Escape".)

Bakura: Hey, guys!

Kaiba: We could try climbing out the window.

Yami: And then what? Get eaten alive by rabid sea bass!

Bakura: Guys!

Yami: Maybe we could pretend that one of us is deathly ill as a distraction so that the other two could escape.

Kaiba: What about the third one?

Bakura: Guys!

Yami: You got any better ideas!

Kaiba: No, but-

Bakura: GUYS!

Yami & Kaiba: WHAT?

Bakura: We could try pulling this lever that says "Escape" on it.

Yami: That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Pull the lever! (Pauses) Hey, I've got it. Why don't we try pulling the lever labeled "Escape"?

Bakura: No? Really?

Kaiba: That could work. (Bakura pulls the lever and it opens a secret door in the wall. The three enter and find themselves in a dark maze when the door slides shut behind them. Around every corner they turn there's a new door. Yami walks up to the first door.)

Yami: Maybe this is the way out.

(He opens the door, only to find Marik, half-naked in a bed, looking at him with a very sexy grin on his face.)

Yami: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! (Slams the door shut and spins around to barf. He hits Kaiba square in the face with his Technicolor yawn.)

Kaiba: EEEEEEEEEEEEEWW!

Yami: That...was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen.

Kaiba: You're one to talk. Look at me. You've ruined my favorite trench coat.

Yami: Sorry.

Kaiba: No you're not.

(The three continue to walk through the maze. Along the way they meet with a pack of rabid fan girls, a rampaging Winged Dragon of Re, Serenity and Tristan in bed together, Spongebob Squarepants, Brittany Spears, a pit full of mice, a room full of bloody, severed heads, stale McDonald's French fries, and mildew. Until finally, bloodied and beaten, they arrive at the end of the maze. There is one final door.)

Bakura: This has to be the way out.

Kaiba: I can't take it anymore! I'm going crazy! This girl has a sick, sick mind!

(Bakura pushes the door open. Kaiba throws himself to the floor and starts kissing it.)

Kaiba: Oh, sweet freedom! Good old terra firma! After this harrowing experience I am never going outside again!

Yami: Uh...Kaiba? (Kaiba finally realizes that it's not grass that he's kissing, but the author's feet. They are back in the author's room.)

LE: Did you have a nice walk?

Bakura: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY ME?

(Kaiba leaps up and starts spitting, trying to get rid of the awful taste in his mouth.)

Yami: Well, I will say this, you have a pretty extensive collection of torture devices. The French-fries. That was just cruel and unusual. And I wonder if Joey knows about Tristan.

Kaiba: (furiously trying to rub lipstick off of his face from their encounter with the fan girls.) I didn't know there were so many fan girls in the entire world.

Bakura: I think one of those mice bit me! I hate mice!

Yami: That was the most disturbing experience that I have ever had. If I never see that pineapple under the sea again it will be too soon.

LE: Oh well, sucks for you. You fell into my trap. That's the punishment for all characters who try to escape.

Kaiba: You mean you've captured other characters before us?

LE: Yep!

Bakura: And...how many of them have you let go?

LE: No one has ever escaped from my room! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yami: Oh, dear Re! She's insane.

**Mirror of the Soul**

_Chapter 4: Coming of the Kingdom_

"When the skies light up with fireworks, the duels will begin," Pegasus announced to the crowd of anxious duelists gathered in front of his castle. Having made his announcements, Pegasus went back inside and left the competitors to prepare for the start of the tournament.

Most of the young duelists were scoping out the competition, hanging together in groups. But one stood apart from the others. Lotaru. She didn't need any further information on her fellow duelists. She had learned all that she needed to know on the boat ride to the island. Now the question was, who would she duel first? She wanted to wait before she met with Yugi in a duel. Besides, she wasn't sure how Asinath would react in that scenario.

Oh, gods, this was so frustrating! Why did she even have to duel to enter the castle? Pegasus had no right to toy with her emotions like this!

Lotaru slowly wandered away from the castle courtyard with the other duelists, looking for someone to challenge once the tournament had officially begun. Nothing caught her eye right off the bat. But she did meet up with Yugi and his friends again.

"Hey, Lotaru. What's up? Got anyone you wanna challenge when the fireworks go off?" Joey asked her in greeting. She caught the hint that he was hoping that she'd challenge him but she didn't think that would be right. Joey didn't have any experience and she didn't want to remove the poor guy from the competition so early on. Not with all that he was fighting for.

"No, not really. I think I'll just hang around for a bit. What about you, Yugi? Anyone you wanna challenge?" Lotaru asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah, there's someone," Yugi answered. As he spoke a mask of pure anger settled over his features.

"Weevil?" Lotaru asked casually.

"How did you know that?" he asked her suspiciously.

"How is that any of your business?" she countered.

"What are you talking about? Of course it's my business. You keep reappearing and disappearing and you never take two seconds to explain what you're about. What's the deal here, Lotaru? What do you know that you're not telling me?"

"Sorry. Unfortunately, I can't stay," She said as she turned and began to walk away. But Yugi wasn't giving up so easily this time. He ran after her and grabbed the fraying edge of her black travel cloak, ripping it just slightly.

"I'm not letting you leave until I get some answers. What do these Millennium Items have to do with all of this? What do you about my Puzzle?"

"I really am sorry, Yugi, but I can't tell you. Not yet anyway. But I will say this. You and I are not so different in our reasons for coming to Duelist Kingdom. You are not the first person that Pegasus has wronged."

"What do you mean? For once can you explain something to me?"

Lotaru was about to answer when the skies suddenly filled with the promised fireworks.

"It's starting," Yugi said softly.

"Yes. There is much to be done."

Yugi was fit to argue with her again when Tristan interrupted them.

"Hey, Yugi! There he is!"

Tristan pointed off towards the forest and Lotaru and Yugi both looked in the direction that he was pointing in. Their eyes fell on Weevil Underwood.

"WEEVIL! I challenge you to a duel!" Yugi shouted furiously at the bug duelist.

Instead of answering, Weevil fled into the forest.

His argument with Lotaru completely forgotten, Yugi raced off after Weevil. His three friends soon followed.

"Now that will be an interesting match," Lotaru said to herself as she wandered into the forest. She knew she would have better luck finding an opponent if she stuck to the more populated areas of the island but for now she didn't want to be part of a big crowd. Maybe someone would find her instead.

And, almost as if someone had heard her thoughts, a voice came up behind her.

"Excuse me, but aren't you Lotaru Kapori? Third-ranked duelist in Japan?"

"That would be me," Lotaru said as she turned to face her accuser.

Her eyes fell on a teenage boy. From the looks of him, he couldn't be older than fourteen. He was dressed entirely in black and he was about a head shorter than she was. His hair was also black and it was cropped short around his neck. Lotaru knew that she had never met the kid before but she still couldn't shake the strange sense of familiarity. That maybe she had seen him somewhere, but she didn't know where. There was something hauntingly familiar in the teen's ice-blue eyes.

"My name is Logan. Logan Ishtar. And I challenge you to a duel!"

"All right," She answered calmly, "Where's the nearest dueling arena?"

"In a meadow a few steps behind you," Logan said as he walked past Lotaru.

Lotaru turned and saw that he was right. One of the dueling arenas that Pegasus had talked about was indeed set up in the meadow that they had just entered. Logan was already waiting at one end of the playing field. Lotaru made her way to her end and they both mounted their stands. Lotaru threw back her cloak and pulled her deck from her jean pocket. Quickly she shuffled her cards, trying to keep an eye on Logan. This kid was definitely no rookie. He wasn't wasting his energy bragging or warning her that she was going down as most would. He simply shuffled his deck. There was something different about this kid.

"I'm going to bet two star chips on this duel," Lotaru said as she placed the chips down in front of her.

"As am I. This'll be an all or nothing match," Logan said as he too, laid out his star chips.

"LETS DUEL!" They both shouted at the same time.

**Lotaru(2000):Logan(2000)**

"I'll open this match by playing Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts(1500/1200) in attack mode. Then I'll play this card face down and end my turn," Logan said. And as he laid down the cards the holographic Gazelle appeared on the field. A creature that somewhat resembled a wolf with a giant horn protruding from its forehead.

"Then I'll play Doma the Angel of Silence(1600/1400) and use it to attack Gazelle. Doma, attack Gazelle!" Lotaru commanded as the horrific demon fairy appeared on the field. Doma raised his staff to attack but was stopped.

"You've activated my trap, Lotaru. My face down card was the Spellbinding Circle. Now your monster can't attack or change its position."

"I thought that might be the case. Not a bad move, Logan," Lotaru said as she drew another card.

"And that's just the beginning. To defend myself I'll place Wall of Illusion(1000/1850) in defensive mode and end my turn."

"Hmm, this kid's no slouch," Lotaru said to herself.

"I play Dust Tornado to destroy the Spellbinding Circle and release Doma. Then I'll send Doma to attack Gazelle again."

As the command was spoken Doma raised his staff and sent a great blast of dark energy to destroy Gazelle.

**Lotaru(2000):Logan(1900)**

"A minor loss. But now I don't have any attack monsters so I'll play Ryu- Kishin Powered(1600/1200) in attack mode."

"I counter with Spirit of the Harp(800/2000) in defense mode and send Doma to attack the Wall of Illusion. True that the wall's special ability will return Doma to my hand but now your wall is destroyed," Lotaru said. And it happened just as she described it. Doma attacked and the wall disintegrated. But Doma was sent from the field.

"A good move, Lotaru. But it's going to cost you. I place Summoned Skull(2500/1200) in attack mode!"

"Summoned Skull!" Lotaru cried out in shock.

"Yes! Summoned Skull attack the Spirit of the Harp!" Logan shouted.

With that, the deadly fiend appeared on the field and attacked the Spirit with its lightening blast, destroying it.

"NO!" Lotaru shouted angrily. She gazed down at the cards in her hands. Nothing there could help her beat the Summoned Skull, so she drew her next card. The D.D. Crazy Beast(1400/1400). The Beast's attack power was only 1400, but with a few magic cards to soup it up, it might stand a chance against Summoned Skull.

"I'll play the D.D. Crazy Beast in attack mode."

Logan could barely keep his surprise hidden.

"Why the Crazy Beast, Lotaru? That thing is puny compared to my Summoned Skull."

"Maybe now it is. But my turn isn't finished yet," Lotaru said as the giant, red Crazy Beast appeared on the field. "I arm my Crazy Beast with Axe of Despair and Rush Recklessly. Raising its attack power by 1700."

**D.D. Crazy Beast(3100/1400)**

"What? No way!"

"D.D. Crazy Beast, attack the Summoned Skull!" Lotaru shouted.

The Beast did so, destroying the mighty Summoned Skull.

**Lotaru(2000):Logan(1300)**

"Unfortunately for me, the effects of Rush Recklessly only last for one turn so the Crazy Beast's attack points are now down to 2400. But my life points are still untouched."

"Don't get too comfortable, Lotaru. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. I place Zombyra the Dark(2100/500) in attack mode. I'll power up Zombyra with my field spell card Mystic Plasma Zone **(2600/1000) **and use him to attack the D.D. Crazy Beast. GO ZOMBYRA!" Logan commanded.

Zombyra leapt forward and destroyed the Crazy Beast with one swipe.

**Lotaru(1800):Logan(1300)**

"With that I end my turn."

"You may have destroyed my Crazy Beast. But have you forgotten the effect Zombyra has on itself? Everytime you destroy one of my monsters, Zombyra's attack points are lowered by 200. Now he has only 2400 attack points."

"True. But I'm not beat yet. Have you forgotten my Ryu-Kishin Powered?"

"No way! That's why I'm going to counter with the Fairy's Gift(1400/1000) in attack mode. And I'll arm her with the Malevolent Nuzzler, increasing her attack power by 700 **(2100/1000**). She is now strong enough to take down Ryu-Kishin Powered. Fairy's Gift...ATTACK!"

The green pixie appeared on the field in a shower of light. She appeared to be a weak monster up until she sprang across the field and destroyed the gargoyle in a blaze of light.

**Lotaru(1800):Logan(800)**

"Damn. All I can do now is attack. There's nothing in my hand that can help me. Execpt maybe Balloon Lizard," he whispered to himself.

"I'll play Balloon Lizard(500/1900) in defense mode. And next...Zombyra, attack the Fairy's Gift!"

Zombyra jumped again and struck the Fairy's Gift down. But in the process, also taking Zombyra's attack points down to 2200.

**Lotaru(1500):Logan(800)**

"Come on deck don't fail me now," Lotaru whispered to herself as she reached to draw a new card.

"And this one isn't going to help me at all," she said when she saw what card she had drawn. Shining Friendship wasn't strong enough to defeat Zombyra.

"I'll play Shining Friendship(1300/1100) in defense mode and end my turn."

"In that case I'll send Zombrya to attack Shining Friendship!"

Zombrya attacked Shining Friendship and destroyed it, lowering his own attack points to 2000. But as it was in defense position no harm was done. With that one stroke of luck still fresh in her mind, Lotaru drew her next card, praying that it would be of some help.

"Yes!" Lotaru cheered to herself. The only monster she had in her hand was the Witch of the Black Forest(1100/1200). But this new magic card would be the perfect combo. One that would protect Witch of the Black Forest until she could come up with a better plan of attack.

"I play Witch of the Black Forest in attack mode. Then she receives the boost from Mystic Plasma Zone **(1500/800)**. And I'll defend her with the Mystic Rainbow."

"Mystic Rainbow! What's that? I've never heard of that card!"

"That doesn't surprise me. It's a very rare and powerful spell card."

"What's it do?"

"Watch and learn."

As Lotaru spoke the Witch appeared on the field. Then a giant rainbow appeared and engulfed her. The seven colors of the rainbow conformed on the Witch and became a blinding white light. When the colors split and disappeared from the field, seven witches now stood where before there had been only one.

"What's going on?"

"You'll have to guess which is the real Witch and attack. But if you attack the wrong one you lose 100 life points."

"You can't do that! There's seven Witches on the field. You can only have five monsters!"

"Oh, but that's the beauty of Mystic Rainbow. It's defense magic allows for seven creatures on the field instead of five."

"All right. Fine! It can't be that tough. I'll send Zombyra to attack Witch of the Black Forest. GO ZOMBYRA! Attack the Witch in the very center!"

Zombyra flew forward and took a swipe at the chosen Witch but nothing happened. The Witch simply vanished.

**Lotaru(1500):Logan(700)**

"Aw, too bad. Better luck next time. You've got awhile. There are still six Witches left. 500 more potential life points to lose. Take your time. But in the mean time, I summon Dark Blade(1800/1500) to the field in attack mode. And because the effects of your Mystic Plasma Zone card are still in effect, my Dark Blade gets a 500 point power boost **(2300/1100**). With that I'll end my turn."

Logan drew another card and Lotaru could tell by the look on his face that this new card wouldn't save him. He looked at the cards in his hand in silent desperation but finally gave it up.

"I'll pass this turn."

"In that case, I'll send Dark Blade to attack the Balloon Lizard. GO, DARK BLADE!"

Dark Blade destroyed the Balloon Lizard with ease. But for some reason this didn't seem to upset Logan. As a matter of fact, he was laughing maniacally.

"What's so funny? I just wiped out your defense!"

"You fell into my trap, you fool! Don't you know about Balloon Lizard's special ability?"

"WHAT?"

"When Balloon Lizard is sent to the graveyard you lose life points. For every one of my turns that haspassed ever since I summoned the Balloon Lizard times 400. That's how many life points you loose. Now lets see. Three turns have passed since I summoned Balloon Lizard to the field. Multiply that by 400 for a grand total of 1200 life points!"

"NO! THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" Lotaru cried out as the digital readout displaying her life points began to drop.

**Lotaru(300):Logan(700)**

"You're finished, Lotaru! Maybe you're not as gifted as my master thinks you are."

"Your master? Who's your master?"

"You will know soon enough. But for now, I'd start focusing on the duel. You're done for!"

"No way am I giving up. There's too much at stake."

"I'm sure there is, but for now I'll take another whack at your Witch. Zombyra, attack the Witch on the far right!"

Zombrya attacked but once again it was the wrong Witch and his life points dropped.

**Lotaru(300):Logan(600)**

"Maybe I still have a chance after all."

"Don't get your hopes up!"

"But it's my turn. And your Zombyra is vulnerable."

"WHAT?- oh no!"

"Dark Blade, attack Zombyra!" Lotaru shouted.

Zombyra was destroyed with one whack of Dark Blade's swords. Now he was starting to look really nervous. But then he drew his next card.

**Lotaru(300):Logan(300)**

"I'll play Monster Reborn to resurrect my Summoned Skull."

"Are you sure about that?" Lotaru asked with a smirk.

"What? Of course I'm sure! What do you mean by that?"

"Summoned Skull was destroyed by the D.D. Crazy Beast. The Crazy Beast has a special ability. Any monster destroyed by it is permanently removed from play. You've just wasted your magic card!"

"NO!"

"Yes."

Logan sounded a growl deep in his throat. Lotaru was better than he had given her credit for.

"All right. But it's still my turn. So I'll play Feral Imp(1300/1400) in attack mode. And with the power boost he receives from Mystic Plasma Zone **(1800/1000) **I'll use him to attack your Witches again. FERAL IMP, ATTACK THE WITCH SECOND TO THE LEFT!"

The Imp attacked, but to no avail. Once again Logan had chosen the wrong Witch and lost another 100 life points.

**Lotaru(300):Logan(200)**

"Your time is up, Logan! This next turn will end it all. I'm not taking any chances so I'm invoking the powers of the Mystical Elf. I play the Gift of the Mystical Elf. It increases my life points by 300 for every monster on the field. We have Witch of the Black Forest, Dark Blade, and Feral Imp on the field so that's 900 life points for me. Now I'm back up to **1200**. And now, for the final attack. DARK BLADE, ATTACK THE FERAL IMP!" Lotaru shouted out in triumph.

Dark Blade sprang across the field and dealt the killing blow with his razor sharp swords.

**Lotaru(1200):Logan(0)**

"NO!" Logan cried out. He slumped over the card console in defeat. His master would be angry with him when he found out that he had lost to Lotaru.

"He'll punish me for sure," Logan whispered to himself.

"Who'll punish you?" Lotaru asked as she came over to him to collect her star chips.

But by this time Logan had regained his composure. He stood tall before Lotaru and handed over the prize.

"Never you mind about that. You have earned these star chips. But I didn't need to defeat you. That wasn't the purpose of this match."

"What do you mean? If you weren't playing for the chips then why did you challenge me?"

"Simply to take the measure of your talents in the arena, Lotaru Kapori. But in the mean time remember this... The Rare Hunters are watching you."

"Rare Hunters? What's a Rare Hunter?"

"Hey, you! Punk! You're coming with us!" a voice called from the far end of the meadow. Two burly looking guards in suits were coming towards them.

"No need for force, gentlemen. I'm coming quietly. I know, I lost," Logan said as he went to join them. But as he turned to be led away, Lotaru noticed something on the back of his black jacket. Something she hadn't noticed during the duel.

A Sennen Eye was stitched into the jacket.

Lotaru was about to say something when one of the guards shot her a death glare.

"You won the duel, now I suggest you keep quiet. Unless you want to be thrown out as well."

"Well, now I know how Yugi feels," Lotaru said to no one in particular as she walked away from the arena and back into the forest. Maybe she could find out how Yugi had done against Weevil.

(Excellent work, Lotaru. Four star chips already.) Asinath spoke to her through the mind link.

(Yep. Just one step closer to the castle...and Atrus.) Lotaru responded.

(When are you going to challenge Yugi?)

(Maybe I won't have to. I want to meet with him on my terms, not yours or anyone else's.)

(Well maybe you don't want to meet with him in the dueling arena, but I want to meet with Atem. Who are you to stop me?)

(I'm your avatar, that's who. When you first came to me you promised that I would be in control.)

(You'll be in control if you help me carry out my vengeance.)

(And I will.)

(Well so far you've been doing a pretty rotten job of it.)

(I'll say it again. I want to meet with them on MY terms. Now give it a rest.)

(All right, fine. I'll give it a rest. If only for the sake of your sanity.) Asinath said, finally falling silent.

Lotaru wandered on for quite a ways before she came on another clearing along the coastline. A dueling arena was set up there and it was in use. Lotaru headed over to it to see who was dueling. To her surprise it was Joey and Mai, the woman from the boat. Yugi, Tristan and Tea were gathered just beside the arena, cheering Joey on.

"Hey, you guys. What's up?" she called out to them as she approached.

"Joey's dueling Mai," Yugi whispered back.

"No? Really? I mean how did your match with Weevil go?"

"Well, I'm still here aren't I? I beat him. Now I have three star chips. What about you? Anything interesting happen?"

"I beat this kid named Logan Ishtar. I have four star chips now. By the way, have you ever heard of the Rare Hunters?"

"No, why?" Yugi asked absent-mindedly as he turned his attention back to the duel.

"No reason, just curious," Lotaru answered as she too, turned her attention to Joey's duel.

"So what's the deal with her?" Lotaru asked, referring to the erratic way that Mai was moving her hands over the cards and chanting incoherently.

"She says that she's some kind of psychic. That she can read the cards with her mind, or something," Tristan answered.

(Hmm, do you think it's true, Asinath?)

(Is what true?)

(This girl that Joey's dueling? She claims to have psychic power. Do you think she really does?)

(I don't know. I'll have to check.) Asinath answered as she began to turn her own psychic abilities outwards, trying to sense the Shadow Realm from somewhere other than herself.

But she felt nothing. No one was accessing magic energies anywhere on the island at this particular moment except for herself and Pegasus.

(No, this girl is a liar. She has no connection to the Shadow Realm. She has no true abilities.)

(Thought so. Just thought I'd check.) Lotaru said as she turned her attention back to the outside world.

And from the looks of things, Joey wasn't doing so hot in his first duel.

XxX

LE: Yay! Chapter four is finally up. I'm on a roll here!

Bakura: (without enthusiasm) Yahoo.

LE: Is that all you've got to say? I thought you wanted out of here.

Bakura: No, that's not it. I just wore myself out in the intro of this chapter.

LE: Oh well, then. If you're not happy, I'm not happy. I think it's time to sweeten the deal yet again.

Yami: What are you talking about?

LE: This oughta be good. (Smiles devilishly.)

Kaiba: This can't be good. It's never good for us when she smiles like that. What's she gonna do this time? Hold me and tell me she didn't just give us that smile again.

Yami: Get a grip, Kaiba. We've been stuck here so long your starting to go OOC. Don't give in to it! FIGHT IT!

Bakura: You're not doing too much better, Pharaoh!

Yami: I heard that!

Bakura: Baka!

Yami: Hentai!

Bakura: YAAAAAAAAAAAH!

(Bakura jumps on Yami and the two engage in a fierce wrestling match. Meanwhile, back with the the other three, still dangling over the pit of doom.)

Yugi: I'm betting on Yami.

Ryou: Yeah right! Bakura could beat Yami anyday!

Yugi: IN YOUR DREAMS!

(Ryou and Yugi continue to argue about whose yami is best.)

Mokuba: Ok, we've got double or nothing odds on Bakura. Anyone else care to place a bet?

Kaiba: I'm with you on this one, Mokuba. Yami isn't looking too good up here.

LE: Helloooooooo! Does anyone wanna know what the new twist is?

Kaiba: I'm pretty sure we don't.

LE: Oh well, I'm gonna show ya anyway.

(Author snaps her fingers and the Millennium Puzzle appears around Yugi's neck. The Millennium Ring appears around Ryou's neck. Yami and Bakura don't even notice.)

Ryou: Yugi, do you have any idea what this means?

Yugi: Yeeeeeaaaaa-no. What does it mean?

Ryou: If you and I get plunged into the pit of doom then our items will be destroyed as well. Our yamis will die with us!

Yugi: NOOOOOO!

Kaiba: How does that "sweeten the deal" for me? You've got nothing on me.

LE: Don't I? (Snaps her fingers and the three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards appear, hanging from a chain around Mokuba's neck.)

Kaiba: NOOOOOOOOO!

LE: Ummmm...yeah. So, moving on. Who will win the wrestling match? What about Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba? Can they possibly survive? And what about the real story? Who is Logan Ishtar and what role does he have in future events? What did Yami do to Asinath that was so horrible that she'd want to rip his heart out? How were Bakura and Asinath connected in the past? Oh, the suspense! MWAHAHAHAHA! (Hands out Ryou and Yugi plushies to every one who has reviewed the past three chappies as an apology for the outburst.) And if you haven't reviewed and you're still reading then review. Let me know that you're out there. I'll give you a plushie! ( :


	5. Night is Falling

LE: Well...gee. What can I say? Sorry I haven't updated for awhile. I've been busy with band camp. The new marching season is fast approaching and school starts soon. starts crying hysterically NO! I DON'T WANNA GO TO SCHOOL! IT'S NOT FAIR!

Kaiba: Pull yourself together, you're embarrassing me.

(Luthien continues to sob)

Kaiba: STOP THAT ANNOYING RACKET THIS INSTANT! If you carry on like this you'll never get through chapter five.

LE: (Sniffle) you're right. No matter how depressing life is at the moment...THE FIC MUST GO ON!

Kaiba: I had to say that, didn't I?

LE: YAMI! BAKURA! GET OVER HERE! I'M STARTING CHAPTER FIVE!

(Bakura walks over.)

LE: Where's Yami?

(The audience sees Yami, bloodied and unconscious.)

LE: Oooh, tough luck, Silver Moon Phoenix. It looks like Bakura won.

Yugi: No way!

Bakura: No way is right. No way that Baka pharaoh could beat me. (he stands there gloating for another minute when suddenly he falls over and numerous cuts and bruises appear all over him. Yami jumps up completely unharmed.)

LE: Hey! What's going on?

Kaiba: It would appear that Yami is completely unharmed after being pummeled by Bakura and Bakura is out cold for no apparent reason.

LE: No? Really? Tell me something I don't know.

Kaiba: I made out with Ishizu after our duel in the Battle City Finals.

LE: (double take) SAY WHAT?

Kaiba: That's something you don't know.

LE: Riiiiight. (thinks for a minute) Oh, now I know what the deal is. Damn, I forgot about the unwritten rule that Yami has to win at everything he does.

Yami: Yep.

LE: Shit! I'm never gonna hear the end of this.

Yugi: Told ya!

LE: (runs over to Bakura) BAKURA, SAY SOMETHING! DON'T LEAVE ME!

Bakura: (delirious) Auntie Em, is that you?

LE: (Eyes turn fiery red and she glares daggers at Kaiba and Yami) Oh, now you done it. Gone and made me mad!

Yami: I didn't know she could do that.

Kaiba: This isn't gonna end well is it?

Ryou: Yo, Luthien! I didn't know you liked Bakura!

LE: YOU WON'T LIVE TO TELL ANYONE THAT!

Mokuba: What are you talking about? The entire audience just saw the whole thing.

LE: AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGHH! (the room explodes and Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba go plunging into the pit of doom. The water begins to turn red.)

Yami: YUGI! NOOOOOOO!

Kaiba: MOKUBAAAAAAAA!

LE: Oops. (Yami drops to the ground, writhing and screaming. Kaiba does too.) Ok, Yami I understand. He dies with the Millennium Puzzle. But why is Kaiba having a fit?

Kaiba: (twitching) Blue Eyes! Blue Eyes.

LE: Oh well. On with the chapter.

Mirror of the Soul

_Chapter 5: Night is falling_

"Speak to me, oh cards!" Mai intoned wildly as she waved her hands over her console.

"Oh cards, indeed. This is pathetic," Lotaru said to herself as she watched Joey's duel with Mai. But, pathetic as it was, Mai was still dominating the match. She was psyching Joey out by making him believe that she had ESP and could read her cards before playing them. Which was bull shit of course. Unfortunately, Joey couldn't see that.

"Hey, don't call Joey pathetic, Lotaru. He's doing well," Yugi said, trying to defend his friend. It was actually Yami who was speaking, however.

"Denial can be a terrible thing, Yugi. If what he's doing now is doing well, then I'd hate to see him when he's doing bad. Besides, I wasn't talking about Joey. I was talking about Mai and her phony ESP," Lotaru retorted.

"But what else could it be? It's impossible to know what cards you have without looking at them," Tristan said as he looked on worriedly.

"Honestly, Tristan. I thought you knew how Duel Monsters worked. There's always some way to cheat. In any game for that matter."

"But how?" Tea wondered out loud.

_For crying out loud! Am I the only one who smells all of that perfume coming from Mai's side of the field? I don't see how she's managed to get this far without anyone wising up to her little card trick! _Lotaru thought as she continued to watch the duel. She felt like screaming the answer in Joey's face. He was such an amateur. What she said instead was this.

"Come off it, Joey! Even you can't be this bad! It's like what Yugi said! Think before you make a move! Just close your eyes and concentrate! You keep this up and you'll be on the next boat home!"

"Hey, with that kind of attitude you're not much better than Mai, Lotaru! Joey doesn't need that from you right now! He needs us to cheer him on. There's more at stake here than you know," Tea said angrily, trying to talk Lotaru down with all of her friendship crud as she had done with Mai.

"I know exactly what's at stake here, Tea. And your cheering has yet to help anybody. It's not stopping Mai from psyching Joey out."

"How would you know that cheering doesn't help? I bet nobody's ever cheered for you!" Tea shot back.

"That is true," Lotaru answered calmly. "And look at me now."

Tea wasn't expecting this kind of answer. She stood, gaping at Lotaru for a moment before coming up with a come back.

"Right, look at you now. No friends to speak of and nothing in your life worth fighting for like Joey has."

It happened so fast. Almost before anyone could blink. Lotaru turned on Tea and slapped her hard across the face. So hard that she knocked her to the ground.

"Tea!" Yami cried out.

"What's your deal, Lotaru?" Tristan asked angrily as he knelt down to help Tea back up.

"It was the only way I could get her to shut up. On and on, like a broken record. I don't give a damn about all of that friendship shit."

"Lotaru, don't talk like that. You shouldn't take your problems out on Tea," Yami said gently.

"Problem? Hah! Friendship is hardly a problem for me," Lotaru countered, staring daggers at Yami.

Meanwhile, all of this arguing was distracting Joey from the duel. But once he had seen that Tea wasn't hurt he actually took Lotaru's advice and closed his eyes. More from despair than trying to come up with a plan though. There was no way out. Mai's Harpy Ladies would destroy any monster that he put on the field. And it didn't help that Mai could read the cards with her mind. This was the end. He would never make it to the castle. He would have no chance at the prize money and Serenity would lose her sight forever. _Wait a minute. What's that smell?_

Lotaru looked on with a slight smirk on her face as she watched Joey's nose twitch, taking a tentative sniff of the air. Her smirk grew even wider when Joey's eyes snapped open and he looked down at her, realization dawning in his eyes as he began to put the pieces of Mai's trickery together. Lotaru had been more help to him than any of the others would ever know. Though it had been hidden in all of her insults, Lotaru had managed to give him a valuable hint.

Now that Joey had figured out Mai's card trick and maybe had a fighting chance at victory, Lotaru decided that it would be a good time to take her leave. But before leaving she turned back to Yami, Tristan, and Tea.

"And next time...think twice before you tell me I have nothing worth fighting for. Or you'll end up with a lot worse than a few black and blue marks," Lotaru sneered with satisfaction at the red slap mark on Tea's face before turning away and heading back into the forest.

Tristan had a good mind to go after her and give her the beating that she deserved but something held him back. For once, no one tried to stop Lotaru from leaving.

Once she was well out of sight of the dueling arena Lotaru decided to find another challenge. There had to be other clearings in the forest somewhere on this island. Besides, she wasn't going to get into the castle by standing around.

(Why did you do that, Lotaru?)

(Do what?)

(Help Joey with the duel? He could have been eliminated so easily. One less opponent for you to worry about. One duelist closer to the finals.)

(What do you mean help? I just told him to shut his eyes. Besides, it would be better to eliminate Mai. The only reason she's here is to win the prize money for a shopping spree. She said so herself. Joey, however bad a duelist he might be, doesn't deserve to be eliminated just yet.)

(I suggest you put a bandage on that bleeding heart of yours. It doesn't suit an assassin.)

(I'm not an assassin!) Lotaru raged to her darker half.

(Oh no? Then what are you planning to do when you find Pegasus? Invite him out for tea?)

(Pegasus killed my parents! How can I do anything else?)

(Now you know how I feel about Atem. Such injustice cannot be allowed to stand.)

(But you talk about it like the two of us are murderers.)

(We are. Or at least, we will be.)

(How can you be so casual about it?)

(Because it is true. There is no other word for it. There is no right or wrong for me anymore. There's no such thing as peace. It can never be so long as the cycle of vengeance continues. And it is everlasting. You know this.) Asinath explained calmly.

"NO! I AM NOT A MURDERER!" Lotaru screamed out desperately.

But Asinath did not answer to this. Without the dark spirit there to goad her on Lotaru suddenly snapped out of her trance. She opened her eyes only to find herself curled into a tight ball on the forest floor. While she had been talking to her dark she had continued her journey through the woods. But when Asinath had gotten to her she had collapsed without realizing it.

Lotaru tried to get to her feet but she collapsed again, shivering with fear. She was in sight of another clearing. Dueling arenas were set up and young duelists were gathered around them watching the duels taking place. Thankfully none of them had heard her scream. Unable to stand, Lotaru crawled over to the nearest tree and clung to its trunk, making herself as small as possible. Her face was wet with tears and she couldn't stop shaking. She pulled her tattered black travel cloak around her thin frame and buried her tear-streaked face in her arms.

Was she going insane? It was possible. The girl she had been before Asinath would never have slapped someone for such a stupid reason. Time and again Lotaru had tried to convince herself that Asinath was her friend. But in return, all that she received were words of anger, hatred, and vengeance. It was true that she wanted to avenge her parents but she wasn't nearly as driven as Asinath. Asinath's urges for her brother's blood scared Lotaru. When the ancient spirit had first come to live in her mind she had given the young girl terrifying images as she slept. Images of blood and death. These nightmares had stayed with her for a long time. More and more often these days Lotaru had been weakening under Asinath's growing power. The only thing that had kept Lotaru from slipping into madness was Atrus. He had kept her sane all of those cold, lonely nights. But now that he was gone Lotaru found that she was slowly falling back into the darkness. Asinath's twisted cravings were slowly driving her mad.

Lotaru clung to the tree for what seemed like hours, but what was really only a few moments, before climbing shakily to her feet. When she finally managed to stop shivering she made her way into the clearing. The only way to stave off the growing darkness was to continue with her quest to free Atrus. She could easily challenge any one of these duelists. But, as fate would have it, she didn't have to.

"Kapori, I want a rematch!"

Lotaru turned to find herself face to face with Rex Raptor.

"A rematch? For what? So I can whip you again?"

"No! So I can stomp you out of existence with my dinosaurs. I can't call myself the runner up in the regional tournament until I've beaten you in a duel."

"You lost to me in the last tournament. What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"I underestimated you last time, but that won't happen again. Now duel me!"

"All right then. If you insist on being squashed again. I'll take great pleasure in relieving you of your star chips," Lotaru said with a smirk as she allowed Raptor to lead her to the nearest available arena.

"Not this time, Kapori. This time will be different. You're going down!" Raptor boasted as he mounted the dueling stand at his end of the field.

"I'm sure," Lotaru answered as she did the same. Then she placed three star chips down on the field in front of her. "I'll wager three star chips on this duel."

"Same here. That'll give me eight," Raptor said as he too, laid down three star chips.

"DUEL!" the two shouted in unison.

XxX

"My Red Eyes Black Dragon has got you on the ropes, Kapori! And now that I combine it with the Dragon Nails magic card it's unstoppable! It's all over!" Raptor shouted triumphantly as his Red Eyes sent Lotaru's Angel of Silence to the graveyard. Bringing her life points down to 1000. "All I need is one more chance to attack and you're finished. You don't have a thing in your deck that can top this!"

"Oh, don't I?" Lotaru said calmly. Rex was, in fact, wrong about her cards. She had just the card to defeat him in her hand. The Blue Eyes White Dragon. But if she couldn't find a magic card to power it up then it would be useless. Rex's Dragon also had an attack strength of 3000 with the Dragon Nails card in play. Any other magic card she had that would destroy Dragon Nails had already been played. There was only one chance left. Her final power up card. The Rush Recklessly card. It would bring the Blue Eyes up to 3700 attack points. All of her other strategies had been torn down. This was the last viable way to beat Raptor.

"I think I'll end my turn with that. Now make your move, Kapori!"

"All right, I will!" Lotaru replied.

She reached for her deck and drew a new card, fervently hoping that it was the card she needed. And when she flipped the card face up to look at it Lotaru allowed herself to breath again. It was indeed Rush Recklessly. Lotaru looked up from the card to see Rex smirking at her. She would take great pleasure in wiping that smirk off his face.

"Raptor, I just drew the card that will win this duel for me."

"What? There's no way! You're lying!"

"Am I? Well let's see how much of a lie you think it is when I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Lotaru shouted as she slammed the monster card down onto her console in attack position.

Many of the duelists that had gathered to watch the match now gaped in wonder. Few duelists were lucky enough to see this card played.

"NO! Since when do you have a Blue Eyes White Dragon?" Raptor asked furiously. He stared, shocked, for a few minutes before he bothered to note the dragon's attack power.

"Oh, but maybe the legendary dragon's not as powerful as I've heard. It's attack points are equal to my Red Eyes. You still can't beat me!"

"They might be equal now, but not for long. I still haven't played my magic card."

"A magic card? NO!"

"Yes! I activate Rush Recklessly! It raises my Dragon's attack points by 700 until the end of the turn. But I won't need it longer than that. Now, my Blue Eyes...ATTACK THE RED EYES BLACK DRAGON!" Lotaru commanded the super-charged dragon.

"NO! I can't lose that dragon. Red Eyes, DODGE THE ATTACK!" Raptor shouted desperately.

"It's too late, Rex. Your dragon is destroyed!" Lotaru said triumphantly as the white lightening attack splintered the Red Eyes into a million pieces.

"That attack takes your life points down to 0. This duel is over. I win."

"No! How could I lose again?" Rex lamented as the dueling stands automatically lowered themselves from the arena.

"Simple. You underestimated me yet again. Now I believe you owe me something," Lotaru said, extending her hand out to Rex as he approached her.

"Fine! Take them! I still have three star chips left. I'm not finished yet!" Raptor said as he shoved the star chips into her open palm.

"Well, gees, don't take it so hard," Lotaru said, her voice full of mockery.

Raptor just growled and stalked away.

"Hmm, must have been something I said," Lotaru said to herself as she turned away from the crowd of duelists who were now giving her questioning looks.

"Seven star chips," she whispered proudly to herself. Just three away from the finals. Three away from Atrus.

"Don't lose heart, Atrus. I'll free you. I miss you so much."

(Stop being such an infant.) Asinath suddenly broke into her thoughts.

(Shut up, Asinath.) Lotaru said firmly.

(Why do you retreat into the forest after every duel?)

(I do not!)

(Yes you do. You're doing it now.)

(I'm not retreating. I'm just looking for a new challenge.)

(Then challenge one of the other duelists in this clearing. There are plenty of them that you could take down easily. It's almost like you're running away.)

(Well, dueling never really was my thing.)

(Then why do you do it?)

(You _know_ why.)

(Then why not let me duel in your place?)

(Because this is my fight.)

(You're so stubborn.)

(And you're not?)

(Well, you have me there, I will admit.)

Lotaru just sighed and did her best to tune out Asinath. The sun was beginning to set. Now would be a good time to find a camp sight. But first, a little spy work.

Lotaru reached into the hidden pouch of her tattered white jacket and pulled out the Millennium Mirror. She faced it's reflective surface skyward and gazed deeply into its depths. She formed a clear picture of Yugi in her mind and spoke the magic command.

"Reveal the truth to me."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the reflected red sky vanished from the Mirror and Lotaru was gazing down on a clearing in a forest. The self same clearing that she had left not half an hour ago. She saw Joey facing down Mai and Rex Raptor. Tristan and Tea were trying to drag him away but to no avail. Joey shoved the two away and Tristan stormed off. Then Joey followed Mai and Raptor to a dueling arena. Joey and Raptor mounted the stands and began to duel. Yugi and Tea stood by and watched along with Mai.

"So, Joey managed to beat her after all. But I wonder what's going on now? Joey's an idiot if he thinks he can take down Raptor."

Suddenly curious, Lotaru sharpened the focus of the image with her mind and honed in on Yugi's dueling glove.

"Six! Damn, he's been busy since this afternoon! He couldn't have won all of those in one duel!"

Lotaru finally decided that she had seen enough and shook the Mirror. The image faded instantly and she tucked the Mirror back into her jacket.

(You're losing your lead, hikari.) Asinath taunted her.

Lotaru tried to ignore the dark spirit as she began to make camp for the night. The place she had ended up in would do well enough. She had found herself near a partially uprooted tree. The twisted roots bent in such a way as to make the perfect hollow shelter in the ground. But while Lotaru was trying to spread out her blanket over the dirt Asinath refused to shut up.

(Hello, Lotaru! I'm talking to you! Are you even listening to me...Mahigan?)

The last word caused Lotaru to snap.

(DON'T YOU _DARE_ CALL ME THAT!) she screamed furiously in her mind.

(Why not? It is your real name after all.) Asinath said mockingly.

(Not even Atrus knows that. And no one else ever will. Only my mother could call me that! And now that she's dead no one will ever speak that name aloud again. Mahigan is dead. She died with Kanehratitake.) Lotaru said bitterly.

(But it is a name to be proud of. It means wolf, does it not?)

Lotaru refused to answer.

(Why don't you speak to me? Not that it matters. I know every secret that lies hidden in the darkest corners of your mind.)

(Don't remind me!) Lotaru said fiercely.

(What does Kanehratitake mean?) Asinath asked, more out of spite than anything else.

(Carrying leaves.) Lotaru whispered brokenly as she sat down on her blanket.

(Carrying leaves? What kind of name is that? What poor fool goes around with a name like that?)

(DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER THAT WAY! Besides, it's your fault that she's dead!)

(My fault? Hardly. Did I force you to pick up the Mirror all those years ago? If your parents hadn't been so stupid as to go where they weren't wanted then you would never have found the Millennium Mirror. It's your fault that they died.) Asinath hissed.

(I guess you know how I feel then! What about Sorenn? And Sephira?)

Asinath fell silent at this. For the first time, the spirit had no come back waiting. The mention of these two struck a chord deep within her memory. For a few brief moments her cloud of hatred and anger parted and she could clearly picture her loved ones, long since dead, murdered. Asinath allowed herself to drift back into the memory for a time. To a time when there was no pain, no vengeance, no death. Only love.

Lotaru, satisfied that she had finally gotten Asinath to be quiet, allowed herself to relax on her small pallet. She quickly pulled a small tin of canned peaches out of her knap sack and began to scarf it down. When she had finished off the entire can she tossed it away and pulled a flashlight out of her pack. The sun had finally set and the forest had darkened. Lotaru was fixing to lie down and sleep for the night when she heard movement in the trees just ahead of her. Just then a small, thin figure leapt into view. The glare of the flashlight caught pale skin and white hair.

"Surely you're not going to go to sleep before you hear my plan," came the devilish voice of her attacker.

It was Ryou. The boy she had met on the ship. Or rather, it was the spirit of Ryou's Millennium Item. Bakura.

"What are you talking about?" Lotaru asked, still shocked.

"Ah, so you are the avatar," he replied sourly.

"Hey, the avatar has a name. It's Lotaru."

"And I should care because...?"

"Because I decide whether or not you can speak to Asinath," Lotaru said crisply.

But before Lotaru could even speak to Asinath herself, Bakura reached into the folds of his sweater and brought out a dagger. In the blink of an eye the dagger was poised to be thrust into her stomach with the slightest flinch from Bakura.

"I suggest that you get her out here, mortal. She's told you about me. You know I'll do it," he hissed.

Lotaru stared defiantly back at the ancient spirit, refusing to show any sign of weakness.

(Asinath? There's a friend of yours here who wants to speak with you.)

(Oh, really?) Asinath asked, snapping out of her reverie.

(Yes. It's Bakura.)

(Bakura? What's he doing here? I could have sworn that I told him to stay out of my way!)

(I don't know. Just talk to him.)

Meanwhile, on the outside, Bakura saw the change in Lotaru's eyes as the two switched places.

"You're losing your touch, Bakura. Lotaru says that she heard you before she saw you."

"Never mind that. Now is our chance. We must take what is ours tonight. There won't be a more perfect opportunity."

"Didn't I tell you that I would handle it?" Asinath hissed as she firmly grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the knife to her stomach.

"Maybe, but you haven't been focusing on it at all. So I took it upon myself," he whispered back as he leaned his face closer to hers.

"All right. Fine. What is your plan?"

With that Bakura quickly outlined his scheme for her.

"I'll need two of your cards," he said in conclusion.

"This might work. Show me the way."

"All right. Come," he commanded as he withdrew the dagger and climbed out of the hollow.

Asinath followed, switching off the flashlight and allowing Bakura to lead her through the forest. The way was dark but the two were creatures of the night. Completely at ease without light. And now, at long last, they were reunited, once more at one with the shadows and each other. As they had been all those long years ago.

Finally they reached Mai Valentine's campsite. Just as Bakura had told her, Yugi and his friends were there, gathered around a fire enjoying a hot meal. Mai was just leaving.

"What is the best card in your hikari's deck?" Bakura asked her, his voice barely audible.

"The Dark Sage," Asinath answered, pulling out Lotaru's dueling deck and taking the spellcaster card from it.

"That will do nicely. And what form will you be using?"

"If you have to ask, you will never know. I've waited many life times to fight him again."

"I understand," Bakura said as he summoned the powers of the Ring to entrap Lotaru's soul within the Dark Sage card.

Then Asinath took a blank card from the deck and imprinted an image on it. Then Bakura used the Ring on her and Lotaru's body slumped over, soulless.

Just then, Tea squealed in fright, having heard the noise.

"What is it, Tea?" Yugi asked.

"I just heard something moving in the bushes over there," she yelped.

"It's probably Mai. I bet she's been hiding there the whole time!" Joey said furiously. "All right! Come on out Mai!"

Bakura quickly placed the two new cards into Ryou's dueling deck and emerged from the bushes.

"Ryou?" Yugi asked allowed.

"See! I haven't been imagining things," Tea said triumphantly.

XxX

LE: Da-da-da-dum. The plot thickens!

Yami: Yuuuu-giiiiiii!

LE: Are you done moaning yet? I thought you'd be dead by now.

Kaiba: Blue Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyes!

LE: You know, that is really getting annoying!

Yami&Kaiba: (moans and cries of pain and anguish.)

LE: Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

(LE's door bursts open and Ryou, Yugi, and Mokuba all come skipping in, completely unhurt.)

Yami: (Halfway through a moan) Yuuuu-gi?

Kaiba: Mokuba?

Yugi: Yami.

Mokuba: Big brother.

Yami: Mokuba.

Kaiba: Yugi.

Ryou: Wh-

LE: Stop that! Stop that! You're not gonna break into all of that while I'm here.

Ryou: I was just asking where Bakura is.

LE: Over there. He's still unconscious.

Ryou: Oh.

Yami: I don't understand. I thought you were dead.

Yugi: Not at all.

Kaiba: Then who's that out there?

LE: My little brother, Dark Magician Boy, and two of his friends. Fooled you good didn't we?

Yami: You killed your own brother?

LE: Yep.

Kaiba: But how can that be? Dark Magician Boy is in the next room writing a fic as we speak. We saw him in the maze.

(The audience sees DMB in the next room, furiously working at his new fic, Behind the Cards.)

Ryou: What's going on? Explain.

LE: No! It complicates things too much.

Yami: But where are the Millennium Items?

LE: Check your back pocket.

(Yami does so and comes up with the Millennium Puzzle.)

Yami: Well I feel stupid.

Kaiba: That's because you are. And what about my Blue Eyes cards.

LE: Back pocket.

(Kaiba checks and finds the cards. He falls to the floor kissing the cards and mumbling incoherently.)

LE: Ooooooooook, I didn't need to see that. But anyway, moving on. How will the duel with Bakura work out now that he has Asinath on his side? Is there gonna be anymore chemistry between them? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, hint, hint) and what's the deal with Mahigan? Is Bakura ever going to regain consciousness? Is he ever gonna find out that I'm desperately in love with him and wanna screw him?

Everyone else: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?

LE: Did I just say that out loud?

Kaiba: Uhuh.

LE: (eyes turn red again) You heard nothing!

Yugi: Yami, what does it mean to screw someone?

Yami: Uuuuuuuuuuuh-

LE: This should be interesting. Well, if you wanna hear Yami give Yugi "The Talk" say so in your review. If not, review anyway and let me know what you think so far. Until then, fare thee well.


	6. The Paths of the Silent

LE: Well, Silver Moon Phoenix, thanks for being a faithful reviewer. If it weren't for you I'd start to think that no one was reading this story. I need a new summary or something. I need a better way to show off my product. Got any suggestions? No? Well, if you get any ideas, do let me know.

Kaiba: Why should she? Why should you subject anyone else to reading this?

LE: I could be offended by that.

Kaiba: That was the general idea.

LE: SILENCE!

Yugi: Hey, Yami, aren't you going to tell me what screwing is?

Yami: Uh…well Yugi. It's um…there's this…uh…let me put it this way. You've studied…um…reproduction…in school. Correct?

Yugi: Yeah, and…?

Yami: Well, you see…it's like this. Screwing is…(Leans over and whispers in Yugi's ear)

Yugi: (eyes getting very big) And Luthien wants to do that to Bakura?

Yami: (steals a nervous glance at LE) Um…maybe.

(Yugi stands completely still, shocked.)

Yami: Uh…Yugi? (pokes him. No reaction)

LE: Just let him be. He'd have to deal with it sooner or later.

Yami: You know, I've just realized something. A fatal flaw in your kidnapping plot.

LE: And what is that?

Yami: You just gave me back the Millennium Puzzle. Now we can escape from here.

LE: I think not. Check the Puzzle again.

Yami: Oh my Re! There's a piece missing! What have you done with it?

(LE reaches into her pocket and brings out the missing piece.)

Yami: GIVE IT BACK!11

Kaiba: Eleven?

LE: Sorry, typo.

Kaiba: If it was a typo then why don't you go back and fix it?

LE: Obey the spoon!

Kaiba: Spoon? What spoon?

LE: The Egyptian God Spoon. (holds up card with a spoon picture on it.)

Yami: (stops trying to get the puzzle piece back.) Oh no! NOT THAT CARD!

Kaiba: What's so scary about a spoon?

Yami: Kaiba, listen to me! You must never disrespect the all-powerful Spoon of Chaos! It is the most powerful of the God cards.

Kaiba: …but it's a spoon.

LE: I KNOW IT'S A SPOON!11 DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW A SPOON WHEN I SEE ONE!11

Ryou: Um…Luthien?

LE: Not now, little girl!

Ryou: I AM NOT A GIRL!11 And I was just going to ask about Bakura.

LE: Oh yeah, that's right. (Rushes over to Bakura, who is still unconscious.) I guess I'll have to give him mouth to mouth. (dreamy smile appears on face. And though she doesn't notice, Bakura also starts smiling.)

Ryou: (noticing Bakura's smile.) No. I suppose I'll have to do it. (pushes LE out of the way and bends over Bakura.)

Bakura: (jumps up immediately) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!11

Ryou: Works every time.

Mokuba: You know, I have a question. Why do we keep saying eleven after every exclamation point?

LE: Because Dark Magician Boy thinks it's funny.

Mokuba: You mean he's watching us right now?

Dark Magician Boy: You know it.

Mokuba: Oh great.

Yami: Is Yugi going to be ok?

LE: Oh, he'll wake up eventually. But in the meantime, here's the long awaited chapter 6. Sorry for the delay. I had it ready but we had a blackout and I didn't save the file, idiot that I am. And when I had to rewrite the thing my muse just abandoned me. Plus, I'm not so good with updates during the school year.

**Mirror of the Soul**

_Chapter 6:The Paths of the Silent_

_What happened?_ Lotaru asked herself. The last thing she remembered was Bakura holding a knife to her stomach.

Did he kill us? Where's Asinath?

Lotaru could almost hear her own thoughts echoing in the empty void of her surroundings. It was like drifting through space. 

As Lotaru pondered her situation she began to absently stroke the staff in her hands.

_Wait a minute! What staff?_

Lotaru looked down and saw that she was indeed holding a wooden staff that was about a head taller than she was. It started off at a point and the gnarled wood curled upward, ending in a huge claw that held a giant emerald orb. Then she noticed that her clothes had changed as well. She was dressed in billowy black robes with purple embroidery across the front. A golden breastplate with seven golden spikes hanging from it was hung across her chest. It was studded with large emeralds. When she sat up to get a better look at the get up she felt a tremendous weight upon her head and shoulders. She had purple emerald-studded armor covering her shoulders. When she lifted her hands up to feel the headdress she wore she noticed that it felt a lot like that of the Dark Magician. Then it hit her.

"Oh my god! I'm the Dark Sage!"

And this revelation was almost nothing compared to what she discovered when she stood up.

Lotaru looked down and saw that she was standing on a Duel Monsters card. The Dark Sage card to be more exact. She leapt back in surprise and noticed what lay beyond this one card.

It was an entire field of Duel Monster cards stretching out in all directions as far as her eyes could see! Cards that seemed to be lit from within. There was nothing but the flat stretch of cards and the black abyss in which it all seemed to float.

Just then, Lotaru noticed another figure laying on a card a good twenty cards away from hers dressed all in white.

Lotaru immediately began to sprint towards the figure. When she finally reached it she found that it was Ryou. He was dressed in a white angel's garment and he had a set of wings. Only one wing was an angel wing and the other was that of a demon. Lotaru recognized it as the garb of the Change of Heart magic card. She gently lifted his limp head from the card he lay on and shook him.

"Ryou, wake up! Please wake up! Don't be dead."

"He won't wake. Not until he is summoned." Lotaru heard a familiar voice drift across the field towards her.

Lotaru looked up to see Asinath walking over to her across the cards. She was also wearing an outlandish costume. She wore an ankle length blue dress that clung to her body. A slit ran from the hem all the way up to her right thigh. A purple shawl was wrapped around her shoulders. Her long black hair was pulled into a ponytail atop her head and a large blue scarf was wrapped around her head as a headdress. She carried a long, purple staff set with a large ruby at the top. The only thing to spoil this image was an angry red line that split the left half of her face.

"What do you mean by summoned, Asinath? Where are we?"

"I suppose you could call this the card limbo. This is where cards in a duel wait to be played. It exists somewhere between the playing field and the graveyard. For all reason, it is the Shadow Realm. Only it is placed in simpler terms for your limited mortal mind to comprehend."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you saw this place as it really is, you would be unable to understand it. It has so many more dimensions and depths that your mind has never known before. I, on the other hand, have died. And as a spirit I have touched upon these dimensions. I am not limited by the human mind because I no longer exist on the mortal plain. What you see before you is not the same as what I see," Asinath explained.

"Okay," Lotaru started, still confused. "Is there any way for you to explain it to me?"

"No. There are no words in any mortal language to describe what this place is really like. Akefia would be able to understand," Asinath said absently.

"Akefia? Who's that?"

"The spirit that you know as Bakura. Akefia is his real name."

"Really? You never mentioned that before."

"Yes, well, it wasn't something that needed mentioning."

"All right. So what are we doing here?"

"You, Ryou, and I have been transferred into Bakura's deck as cards. He is playing against Atem as we speak."

"Ok," Lotaru said casually, somewhat surprised that she could be so calm in this situation. Most people would panic if they found themselves in some mystic otherworldly dimension.

"I guess you just get used to it," Lotaru said to herself. After a few moments of silence she turned back to her yami.

"Who are you supposed to be anyway?"

"Not any monster you would recognize. I am the Shadow Spell Mage. It is a form I used a long time ago. It is a far cry from what my power is truly capable of."

"So when can we expect to be summoned?"

"That I couldn't tell you. He may not even use us in the duel."

"Will he let us go when it's over?"

"That really depends. If he loses the duel he'll be trapped in the Shadow Realm and unable to release us. If he wins, we'll just have to wait and see if he wants to let us go."

"He wouldn't keep us here forever would he? I mean…you two used to be-"

"Don't!" Asinath interrupted fiercely. "Just don't. That was a long time ago. It's over now."

"But-"

"No!"

"You once told me you still loved him."

Asinath clenched both fists defensively and bit her lip until it bled.

"That was four years ago. I was naïve when I first entered this world. Besides, even if I still did, he doesn't care for me anymore."

As she said this, Asinath's hard mask slipped away for a moment. Lotaru saw the girl that Asinath had once been showing through.

"Asinath, I-" Lotaru started, taking a step towards Asinath. But she never had the chance to finish the sentence. The world around her began spinning and she was engulfed in bright golden light.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" she shouted fearfully.

Asinath said something but Lotaru couldn't make out what it was in all of the commotion. Just then, the card she had been laying on before opened up and swallowed her whole.

XxX

**Yami(500): Bakura(1200)**

Bakura looked over the playing field. The Pharaoh had just laid a card face down and ended his turn. His Dark Magician(2500/2100), or Yugi, rather, had attacked his Electric Lizard and was still weak from its effect. That made him easy prey for the card he had in mind. Yami had the Dark Magician/Yugi, Cyber Commander/Tristan(750/750), Flame Swordsman/Joey(1800/1400), and Magician of Faith/Tea(300/400) and one face down card on the field. All of them were weaker than the monster he had in mind. The Dark Sage/Lotaru(2800/2100). Only it required that he sacrifice a Dark Magician. And if he played his Soul Exchange magic card then it could happen. But now that it was his turn again, Joey and Tristan were trying to hide Tea from his sight.

"Don't bother, you fools! I can see her perfectly well."

Both miniatures looked sheepish and slowly backed away from Tea.

"Now I have all four of you right where I want you. Helpless on the field…easy prey for my Dark Sage!" Bakura announced boldly.

"Bakura has a Dark Sage?" Yugi asked out loud.

"Actually, it isn't mine. But it will do just as well. And now I activate my Soul Exchange card in order to take control of the Dark Magician!"

"NO!" Joey shouted, leaping out front to try and protect Yugi from the magic card. But he was too late.

A white mist drifted up out of the card and engulfed Yugi's body. His body went rigid and his eyes went completely blank.

"Yugi, wake up!" Tristan begged.

"Now, I sacrifice the Dark Magician in order to summon the DARK SAGE(2800/2100)!"

And as Bakura spoke the command, Yugi's body slowly vanished into the darkness. Bakura laid the Dark Sage card on the field and a figure emerged from it.

"NO! YUGI!" Yami cried out in anguish.

"Hey, wait a minute. That monster. Isn't that Lotaru?" Tea asked.

"Yeah, you're right, Tea," Tristan said, just as shocked as she was.

"How did she get here?" Joey wondered out loud.

Lotaru blinked a few times and looked around. It took her a few minutes to figure out that she had been summoned. But once she did she moved on to the shock of realizing that she was up against Joey, Tristan, and Tea.

"Damn it, Asinath. You didn't tell me who I'd be fighting," Lotaru hissed under her breath.

"Fortunately for you, I can't attack this turn because I used Soul Exchange to summon her so I end my turn."

Yami took in Lotaru's cool demeanor. Why wasn't she panicking like the others had? There was only one logical explanation.

"She's working with Bakura," he whispered.

Yami briefly glanced down at the card he'd drawn. Spellbinding Circle. Yes! There was a way to take down Lotaru and bring Yugi back.

"All right, Bakura. You're going to pay for what you've done! I'll start by playing my trap card, Spellbinding Circle! And I'll use it on the Dark Sage!"

Bakura growled low in his throat as the glowing ring surrounded Lotaru and bound her in place.

"No matter! You wasted the trap on the Dark Sage, so its effect will only last for two turns. And I hope you don't harbor any illusions about rescuing little Yugi from the graveyard. You've already played Monster Reborn; the only way to get him back. And soon the Reaper of Cards will claim his soul forever!"

"No," Lotaru whispered to herself from the confines of the Spellbinding Circle. "All this happened because of me."

"Poor Yugi," Tea whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "He can't be gone."

One tear slid silently down Tea's cheek and hit the card she stood on. When that happened the card started glowing.

"Hey, what's going on?" Tristan asked.

"Tea is the Magician of Faith. Her tears activated the special ability of her favorite card," Yami explained. "And now I use that effect to reclaim one magic card from the graveyard and add it to my hand. The card I choose is Monster Reborn. I'll use its powers to resurrect my Dark Magician!"

All of the others cheered as Yugi reappeared on the field.

"Yugi, you're back!" Tea shouted with glee.

"You waste your time and your turns rescuing these foolish mortals," Bakura said to Yami.

"My friends are never a waste of time. Now make your move."

Bakura smirked at these words.

"Oh, I'll move. And you will loose! This is the move that will end the match and win me your Millennium Puzzle. First I'll play Lady of Faith(1100/800) in attack mode. And then the card that will turn your friends against one another. The Change of Heart card!"

"Change of Heart? But isn't that Bakura's favorite card?" Yugi asked.

Bakura chuckled.

"And a very powerful magic card it is. It allows me to take control of any opposing monster. And I choose the Dark Magician."

"No! I refuse!"

"You won't have a choice in the matter. You see, I need to have three monsters on the field in order to play this next monster. But I don't have any other monsters in my hand. So I'll just use one of yours."

"Leave the young one out of this!" Yami said angrily.

"Why should I? You're here to die to protect him! THEN PROTECT HIM AGAINST THIS!" Bakura said as he slammed the magic card into place.

"YUGI!" his friends cried out as a strange figure appeared on the field and cast it in an unearthly light.

"Hey!" Yugi said in surprise when he saw the Change of Heart. "It's Ryou."

"The real Bakura!"

"So your soul was sealed into your favorite card too?"

Ryou bowed his head in defeat.

"I'm so sorry, Yugi. I can't stop him," Ryou whispered as he flew towards Yugi and into his body.

Yugi froze up for a moment. Suddenly his features melted and Ryou stood there in his place, dressed in the Dark Magician garb.

"YUGI!" all of his friends shouted as they watched it happen.

"Now that all of the pieces are in place, I can summon a new monster," Bakura hissed as he took a card from his hand and placed it face up on the field.

"Bakura, why are you doing this?" Yami asked.

"I suppose you're wondering why I don't just use Yugi to attack you. You see, this will be our ultimate triumph and I want her here to finish you off. I summon the Shadow Spell Mage(3000/2400) in attack mode!"

"Her? Who's her?"

But when the monster appeared on the field, Yami began to understand.

"Another Lotaru? But how can that be?" Tristan asked.

"That's not Lotaru! But now she will destroy you pathetic mortals! Now, Asinath! Attack the Flame Swordsman!"

Asinath sneered wickedly and raised her staff to deal the killing blow.

"No, Asinath! Stop!" Lotaru begged.

"Why! This is my chance to see him die at last!"

"You can't! You'll destroy all of the others too!"

"I don't care! He doesn't deserve to live!"

"I won't let you take innocent lives, Asinath."

"You're in no position to stop me, Lotaru."

Yami watched this exchange, mystified. What on Earth were they talking about?

"Asinath! This is our chance! Strike now!" Bakura ordered.

But Ryou had also been watching all of this. He just couldn't bear to see his friends hurt. He finally had a plan to stop his tormentor once and for all.

"I want to help but we must act quickly, Yugi," Ryou said to him as he pulled away from Yugi and flung himself across the field. Then he possessed the Lady of Faith.

"NO!" Bakura shouted. "The Mage's attack strength is determined by how many monsters I control!"

Asinath's attack strength immediately dropped to 1300 with the loss of control over Yugi.

"I've possessed one of his monsters instead of yours. I'll control her while you attack me, Yugi. You can defeat the evil Bakura!"

"I can't! I'd be destroying you! Sending you to the graveyard!" Yugi shouted frantically.

"I don't care! It's better than being enslaved by an evil spirit! DO IT!"

"BE QUIET!" Bakura shouted.

"I have a better idea," Yami butted in suddenly. "If the evil power of Bakura's Millennium Ring is able to take souls from people, maybe my Millennium Puzzle has the power to put them back!"

As he said this the puzzle began to glow. Bakura screamed as the soul exchange took place. He slumped over the field for a few moments. But when he looked up again his face was different. It was Ryou.

"All right!" Joey cheered. "Our Bakura's back where he belongs!"

"Yeah, but where's the evil dude?" Tristan asked.

Everyone's eyes turned to the Lady of Faith. It was Bakura!

"NO! THIS CAN'T BE!" he shouted, suddenly realizing what had happened.

"Listen closely, Yugi. Use the power of the Dark Magician! Send him to the graveyard! NOW!" Yami shouted.

"You got it! DARK MAGIC ATTACK!" Yugi shouted, raising his staff into the air to channel the magic.

But as the blast traveled across the field, Asinath leapt out in front of it.

"I won't let this happen!" she shouted as the blast struck her head on.

"ASINATH!" Lotaru and Bakura shouted as one.

Bakura knelt by Asinath's smoldering body and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Why did you do that, you idiot?"

"Because," Asinath whispered, struggling to speak. "I won't let him destroy you again."

Asinath heaved one last breath before her body shattered into a thousand pieces.

**Yami(500): Bakura(0)**

A mask of rage clouded Bakura's face as he rose to his feet. Then he pointed an accusing finger up at Yami.

"Here me now, Pharaoh! You will pay for this!"

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked him.

Bakura didn't answer. He only glared at them all as he vanished from the field.

"What happened? Where did he go?" Tea asked.

"I don't know!" Yami said angrily.

XxX

The second she was back in her own body Lotaru snapped into a sitting position.

"Asinath," she whispered sadly.

(Lotaru, don't just sit there! The others will be waking up any second and we must be far away from this place.)

(Asinath!)

(No, it's Pegasus. Of course me.)

(But how?)

(The shadows are my domain. Do you really think they could keep me trapped there?)

(I guess not, but-)

(No time for questions. Go and get your cards. We must get out of here.)

Lotaru quickly got to her feet and clawed her way out of the bush she was lying under. Ryou, Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Joey were still out cold. But when Lotaru reached out her hand to take back Dark Sage and Shadow Spell Mage from their places on the field, a pale hand snapped out and grabbed her wrist. She looked up and found herself staring directly into Bakura's cold, brown eyes.

"Asinath?"

"No. Lotaru."

"Where is she?" he hissed furiously.

"She's safe," Lotaru answered, whipping her arm out of Bakura's grasp.

"Let me speak to her," he demanded as he got to his feet.

"There's no time. The others will be waking up soon. Lie low for now. You'll get the Puzzle some other time."

Bakura glared at her but finally backed down. When Lotaru noticed Yugi stirring she bolted for the trees. Only just managing to escape. And as she made her way through the dark forest, Asinath bugged her as usual.

(You think you cut it close enough?) Asinath asked sarcastically.

(Shut up, Asinath. It's not my fault Bakura wanted to talk to you. Actually I think it's sort of sweet that he asked if you were all right.)

(He did nothing of the sort, foolish girl! He just wanted to know if I was still around for the next time we try and kill Atem. I repeat myself…he does NOT care about me!)

(Whatever you say.)

(I can't believe you're teasing me about this like we were no more than school children. Akefia is not someone to be trifled with.)

(No. He's just a man in love.)

(Don't be so foolish, Lotaru. Love does not last. I learned thatthe hard way. It is something that you will learn as well. In the end you can only depend on yourself.)

(That's not true! I have Atrus.)

(Atrus.) Asinath scoffed. (Why do you cling to that feeble hope? In the end you will be left without him. It will not last.)

(No! I don't care what you say! Just because Bakura hurt you doesn't mean that-)

(DON'T START! I am above that now. Love is beneath me. I don't need it. The mere word sickens me!)

"Lotaru?"

Lotaru immediately snapped out of the conversation and turned her attention to the world outside. She looked around to find that she had walked into a sort of clearing. The owner of the voice that had called her name stepped out of the trees. But the figure stayed in the shadows, just out of reach of the moonlight.

"Who are you? Show yourself!"

"Lotaru, don't you know me?"

Now that she thought about it, the voice did sound familiar. A strong, masculine voice. A voice from the past. And the figure before her, still concealed by the darkness, it was so familiar. But it couldn't be. Could it? The darkness must be tricking her eyes.

"Show yourself!" she ordered.

The figure finally stepped into the light cast by the moon and Lotaru's breath left her body in a flash as she crashed to her knees.

_No! It can't be!_

Standing before her was her father. Her father that had died four years ago!

XxX

LE: Well, how's that for a plot twist my little chickadees?

Kaiba: Oh, give it a rest already. It's painfully obvious what's going on here. And if no one else has figured it out then they're all idiots.

LE: Shut up! You might offend one of my readers.

Kaiba: So?

LE: (Eyes glow red)

Yami: No! Don't! He didn't mean it!

LE: All right, fine. I'll let him off the hook this time. He's not worth it. Especially since I have so many other chapters to write.

Kaiba: By the way, Luthien, there's something I've been meaning to ask you.

LE: Yeah?

Kaiba: Back in chapter 3, was that really a sock in my mouth?

LE: Uh…(laughs nervously)…um…let me get back to you on that one. But in the meantime continue reading all of yous out there. I shall update when I can.


	7. Pleasure and Pain

LE: Mmmm, hello my fuzzies. It's been so long. Where has the time gone? First I was in Disney World and then camp and then France. And then of course there was school and marching band season. I'm just sorry I haven't had any time to write in between.

Kaiba: Why should you be sorry? This story is so cruddy I don't even want to think about it.

LE: That was mean! I was going to let you guys go after the story was over. But just for that I think I'll keep you enslaved here forever!

Yami&Bakura: YOU IDIOT!

LE: Maybe I'll even feed you to my mutated tuna.

Yugi: Sea bass.

Ryou: Mutated sea bass.

Mokuba: Whatever.

LE: As I was about to say before I was so _rudely_ interrupted…IT WORKS! I FINALLY MADE IT WORK! Sorry, I seriously had this thing ready at the beginning of the school year but my computer's internet connection died and we couldn't make it work! But for some reason it just randomly started working last week. So I decided to subject Mirror of the Soul to an exhaustive editing process. The first conversation between Asinath and Bakura has been reworked and the duel between Logan and Lotaru has been completely rewritten, but do let me know if you spot any mistakes I missed. By the way, I know this chapter is long as hell but bear with me. It needed doing and I think it's pretty good.

**Mirror of the Soul**

_Chapter 7: Pleasure…and Pain_

(Lotaru! Wake up! Lotaru! Are you even listening to me?)

Lotaru didn't seem to hear her yami's pleas. She was frozen where she knelt, staring at the man before her. It wasn't possible…and yet there he was.

(Look, Asinath,) Lotaru said to her yami in a daze. (It's my father.)

(Lotaru, listen to me! That is _not_ your father. It can't be. Your father is dead. You saw him die! I don't know how, but this is some illusion of Pegasus's. Snap out of it!)

But Lotaru wouldn't listen…couldn't listen. After all of the suffering, here was something familiar. Something from home. Even though she knew, deep in the core of her being, that it couldn't be, maybe, just maybe, she was waking up. Maybe the whole thing had been a terrible nightmare.

"Daddy?" she whispered hopefully.

"Yes, Lotaru. It's me," he answered as he came to her and lifted her to her feet. Lotaru just stood in the cradle of his embrace, tears streaming down her face.

"But…how?"

"That is a story for another time," he said as he hugged her tighter. But then, she heard another voice in her head.

_If you live long enough!_

That was when Lotaru finally started to come out of her haze. Something wasn't right here. Her father was dead. And even if he weren't, her father would never hug her so tightly.

_Come to think of it,_ Lotaru thought casually. _I can't seem to breathe._

That's what finally made Lotaru snap out of the illusion.

"N-no!" she screamed as she pulled herself free of the creature's death grip on her throat. She instantly crashed to the ground, rubbing her neck and choking as the air came rushing back into her lungs.

As she lay on the ground, concentrating on breathing, she heard wicked laughter somewhere above her. When she finally looked up at the creature she'd thought to be her father, she realized that it was twisting and changing shape before her very eyes. Finally, a young woman stood before her. She wore blue jean shorts and a black denim jacket and blue halter-top. Her skin was pale and her long white hair was pulled back into a ponytail very much like Lotaru's. For all purpose she seemed to be Lotaru's exact opposite.

"What are you?" Lotaru asked as she scrambled back to her feet, unwilling to be at the mercy of this creature.

"Clever thing to ask what I am instead of who I am. But my name is Mnemosyne. And I challenge you to a duel!"

"You're on, Mnemosyne! Just lead the way."

"And in regards to what I am," Mnemosyne continued as she led Lotaru over to a dueling arena. "I'm an eliminator employed by Pegasus to get rid of the weak duelists. Namely you."

"In your dreams. I think you'll find that it's you who's the weak duelist," Lotaru scoffed. "But first off, I want to know how you can change shape like that."

"You will know soon enough," she said once they had reached an arena and mounted the stands. "But I suppose you could say that it's the reason for my existence."

"What do you mean?" Lotaru asked furiously, still shaken from the encounter.

"Enough questions! It's time to bet your star chips. I'm placing the three I have on this match," Mnemosyne said as she laid out the star chips and put her shuffled deck into place.

"I'll do the same, but if three is all you've got than you're even worse off than I thought."

"I think you will find, Lotaru, that it is you who are worse off," Mnemosyne sneered as she drew her first five cards.

Lotaru stopped mid-draw and looked up at Mnemosyne across the playing field in pure shock.

"How do you know my name?"

"Oh, I know much more than your name." As she said this her form began to change again. When the transformation was complete a tall Egyptian man in white robes and a turban stood before her. Around his neck was the Millennium Key and he held the Millennium Scales in his hand.

Lotaru took a step back, and would have continued if she hadn't run into the railing. She didn't know the man's name but she did know that he was where all of this had started.

"I know you possess the eighth item…the Millennium Mirror."

As Mnemosyne took her original shape again Lotaru straightened up, trying to maintain her composure as she drew her first five cards.

"This is just magic to distract me," she said, trying to blow it off. She glanced down at the cards in her hand. The Agent of Creation-Venus(1600/0), Spirit of the Breeze(0/1800), Spirit of the Harp(800/2000), Gift of the Mystical Elf, and Windstorm of Etaqua. Neither magic cards would be of help right off the bat but Venus might help.

**Lotaru(2000):Mnemosyne(2000)**

"For my first move I play Spirit of the Breeze in attack mode. Then I'll place this facedown and end my turn," Lotaru announced, laying Gift of the Mystical Elf facedown on the field as the green sprite appeared on the field, her blue hair flowing down and mingling with her green dress.

But the instant the two cards hit the field, Lotaru's vision grew hazy. The last thing she saw before the scene disappeared entirely was Mnemosyne's sneering face.

"What are you doing to me?" Lotaru hissed as a new sight appeared before her eyes. She recognized this place.

The walls of the room were painted deep blues and greens. Toys and picture books were scattered around the floor and a white dresser drawer and toy box stood at one end. On the other end, next to a large window, was a bed covered with a blue blanket. This was her old bedroom. In the house she'd lived in in America before her parents' last dig in Egypt. She could see herself, twelve years younger, sitting under the blankets and listening raptly to the woman sitting on the bed beside her. Her mother. She was telling young Lotaru a story.

"What's going on?" Lotaru asked in quiet rage. How could Mnemosyne project this memory?

"I can see your mind, Lotaru," Mnemosyne answered as she appeared beside her. "I have access to every memory inside your head. Whenever you play a card I'll play a memory in your head."

"You mean you can read my mind? So does that mean you can read the cards in my hand before I play them?"

Mnemosyne laughed derisively at this.

"No. Master Pegasus did not give me that kind of power. Only to see what your life has been before you came here. I can force you to remember anything I choose."

"But how?" Lotaru tried to ask. But Mnemosyne had already vanished. When she was gone Lotaru turned her attention back to the bed. She had heard the opening words of the tale her mother was telling and she remembered the story like it was yesterday. It was when she'd first heard of her parents' research. Her mother used to make up fairy tales about ancient Egypt and tell them to her. In truth it was how her parents had met. Her mother, a Native American still in university, had met a Japanese student studying Egyptology abroad. The rest was history. The story her mother was telling now was, in Lotaru's mind, the beginning of her parents' study of the Millennium Items. It had always been Lotaru's favorite. Where her mother had heard the roots of the tale, Lotaru didn't know. But now, reflecting on it years later, the fairy tale hadn't been that far from the truth.

"And what do you suppose Princess Asinath did when she realized that Akhenaden and Isis had betrayed her?" her mother asked mysteriously. And young Lotaru answered, her eyes wide with wonder.

"She wan away! She escaped from da palace."

"That's right," her mother said with a smile. "Leaving her mother and brother behind, Asinath escaped into the desert, only wanting to be free of the people who were trying to use her."

With that, her mother got up from the bed and went to turn out the lights.

"Aw, Mommy, how come you never finish da story?" Lotaru whined.

"Because I don't know how the story ends. That's what Daddy and I are trying to figure out."

"Well, wha do you tink happened to Asinath?"

"You know, Lotaru…I really don't know."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth then the memory began to fade from Lotaru's eyes and she could hear Mnemosyne's voice in her head.

"Now for the second memory."

The new vision that came to Lotaru was about three years later, at her parents' last dig before the incident. A tomb had been discovered in the temple city of Karnak. And a queen's tomb none the less. This was unusual in that the ancient Egyptians did not bury their dead in temples to their gods. Anyone less than a Pharaoh was unworthy of the honor of lying beside the gods. Besides, according to the time frame this queen should have either been laid to rest with her king in the Valley of the Kings or given the honor of her own tomb in the nearby Valley of the Queens. Royal burials just weren't conducted this way. If a deity's cult center was located in a certain city then priests or priestesses might be buried in that deity's temple in order to continue service in the afterlife but that wasn't even the case here.

The queen's tomb had been found in a temple dedicated to Sekhmet, the lioness goddess, and destructive form of the Goddess Hathor. Sekhmet was not usually worshipped in her own right outside of the double goddess's cult center, located a ways down the river in Dendera. But what was really strange about this tomb was that the wall paintings acknowledged this queen as the Sekhmet incarnate.

"And you can see here," her parents' Egyptian colleague, Professor Ali Murib, began to explain. "Carved just above the entrance to the inner burial chamber, the name of our mystery god-queen."

" 'Behold, ye mighty Pharaohs in the sight of the Gods. Look upon me and remember the Great Darkness. For I am Tryphaena, Queen of flesh and blood, mother of the Light and the Dark,'" Lotaru's mother began to translate the hieroglyphics out loud.

"The Light and the Dark? Flesh and blood? What exactly does that mean?" her father asked.

"Well, Makoto, that's what we're trying to figure out. But I believe I have a theory concerning these epithets. If you'll have a look at the four supporting columns before we venture into the tomb itself, they tell the story of this queen."

"But Ali, what does this Queen Tryphaena have to do with our research?" her mother asked. "When you contacted us you said it would be worth our while to come. I haven't seen any evidence here linking Tryphaena to the Items."

"My dear Kayla," Ali began, using her mother's English name. "You haven't looked at the column paintings yet. But before you do, there's something you'll be interested to know. Do either of you know whom Tryphaena was married to?"

Both of her parents shook their heads.

"Queen Tryphaena was married to the Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen."

At this news, Makoto and Kayla turned to each other, both wearing an identical look of shock. Obviously the name meant something to them.

"Now do I have your attention?" Ali asked before walking over to the first column. Her parents followed close behind.

"When you first contacted me about this Millennium legend of yours, the story intrigued me. You mentioned that these Items were created by the Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen. The name immediately caught my interest because of its connection to my work here. These columns tell a very similar story to the one you told me about. But there are key differences. I think you'll see them if you have a look at these paintings."

Makoto craned his neck to have a look at the uppermost paintings on the column, slowly circling it as he translated the story into English.

"It's written here that a false pharaoh, Mentuemzaf, had come to control Egypt, and that Re sent his true son, Akhenamkhanen, to win back the crown. Once he was securely on the throne, it's said that his youngest brother, Prince Arheman, married the daughter of the royal Vizier, Tryphaena. But the marriage was cursed. It was foretold that the fruits of Tryphaena's womb would bring ruin upon Egypt. And then she gave birth to a…"

"To a what, Makoto?" Kayla asked.

"To a monster," Ali finished. "A spawn of Sekhmet. A lioness with great and terrible power. The tale continues on over all of the columns to say that Arheman turned against Akhenamkhanen and took his wife and child into the desert to hide amongst a clan of thieves. Fearing that Arheman would try to lead a rebellion against him, Akhenamkhanen sent his twin brother, High Priest Akhenaden, out into the desert with a small task force to bring back Arheman and Tryphaena. When they were found, a fierce battle ensued and Arheman and the entire clan were slain. Akhenaden took Tryphaena and her "demon child" back and Tryphaena was married to Akhenamkhanen as a war prize. And as a tribute to the Pharaoh's triumph over the rebellion, eight totems were forged out of pure gold. It was proclaimed that their magic would protect the realm from danger. The third column names these totems as the Sennen Items. Sound familiar?"

"Ali, do the columns say what became of these items?" Makoto asked excitedly.

"Sadly, no. But the last column does tell what became of Tryphaena after the marriage. It's written that she gave the Pharaoh an heir. A Prince of light who would defend the innocent against Tryphaena's first child, this so-called Demon spawn."

"And what did become of her first child?" Kayla asked.

"It says here that she strayed further and further from Re and became a creature of pure darkness. That she summoned a great evil to devour the kingdom and destroy her half-brother. But it also says that her brother won over her and banished the evil from his kingdom. And do you see these two cartouches at the bottom of this column. These are the names of the two siblings."

"Atem," Kayla read aloud from the second cartouche.

"Yes, but the name on this first one has been scratched out. Apparently the tomb sealers thought it was ill luck to leave such a name carved into the stone for all eternity. We can only assume that it once bore the name of Tryphaena's first child."

Of course, all of this archeological chatter meant nothing to an eight-year-old Lotaru. She was just wandering around the room, looking at all the pretty colors and drawings on the walls. She was trying to figure out how she could use her own colored pencils to make this sky blue color she was seeing when the room suddenly seemed to get a whole lot colder. Lotaru was just about to turn and ask her mom if she could go and get her sweater when her attention was turned to the doorway leading to the burial chamber. The chamber had been unsealed weeks ago and it had always seemed like a giant black mouth to Lotaru. And now, standing right in that opening was a woman.

Lotaru was about to ask the woman what she'd been doing in the chamber, but then she started to notice what exactly the woman was dressed in. Lotaru's first thought was that it was a little early for Halloween. The woman wore a long white gown and a cloak of midnight blue. Her arms and neck were decked with a few pieces of opulent jewelry made of gold and lapis lazuli. This look was topped by a gold circlet that was situated atop her head of graying black hair. There was something almost regal about this woman. And, in Lotaru's heart, something familiar.

The woman smiled gently and opened her arms wide, as if she were expecting Lotaru to come to her, or that she was just happy to see her.

"Where have you been, my child? I've missed you so," the woman said.

Some part of Lotaru's mind told her to question this mysterious encounter. But another part of her practically begged her to go to the woman. It was like this part of her knew that she would be safe if she went. And then Lotaru spoke in a voice that was not her own.

"Mama. You've been here all along?"

The woman's smile just grew wider.

"Mama," the other voice whispered as Lotaru took a step towards her.

But no sooner had she taken the step then she froze. And as she watched, the older Lotaru knew what her younger self was seeing. A vision that she would take to the grave. She'd seen a giant round chamber filled with people. At the center was a huge pit filled with some molten liquid. And to the horror of the villagers in the chamber, and her own, a man was in the pit. The liquid was burning through his skin, melting the flesh from his bones as he screamed in agony. And now that she was older, Lotaru knew what it was that she had witnessed in that chamber. But young Lotaru had no idea what was going on, and she had done the only thing she could think of.

She screamed, screamed her lungs out at the carnage of the sight. Her screams rose above those of the others in the room, even as many of them were shoved into the pit.

Lotaru's terrified shrieks finally alerted her parents to what was happening and her mother rushed over to her. Her mother's arms around her woke Lotaru from the nightmare and she stood for a moment in shock. And when she looked up to the doorway the woman was gone, as if she had never been. Then Lotaru turned to her mother and cried helplessly.

"What's wrong, Lotaru? You're a big girl. You shouldn't be crying like this. What happened?" her mother tried to soothe her.

"Mom…I- I think th-that I just saw… a g-ghost," she sniffled.

This caught Ali's attention and he quickly came over to the sobbing girl.

"What did this spirit look like, Lotaru?"

"Ali! Can't you see she's upset?" Kayla scolded. But Ali wasn't listening to her. He was looking in the direction that Lotaru's arm indicated.

"L- like that," she whispered, pointing to one of the figures painted on the tomb wall.

When Ali saw what she was pointing at, he took an involuntary step backwards. Lotaru was pointing to a picture of Queen Tryphaena.

"Lotaru, it's not nice to joke about something so serious," Makoto reprimanded her.

"But I'm not lying! I saw her!" Lotaru protested.

"Where exactly did you see her?" Ali asked.

"She was standing right there…in the doorway," Lotaru pointed towards the inner chamber.

Ali walked towards the entryway and stuck his head inside. A system of lights was set up on the walls that lit up the chamber. Attempts to open up the sarcophagus that rested within had only just begun and only the ornate lid had been removed to reveal a less elaborate coffin. It was likely that still another coffin resided in the second one. Tryphaena herself would be in that last coffin. But right now it didn't seem like anyone was in the chamber.

"There's no one else here. Perhaps Lotaru really did see something."

"Ali, you're not seriously about to tell me that you believe in that sort of thing are you?" Makoto asked. "You'll only encourage her."

"Well we are, after all, in a tomb. It doesn't sound like Tryphaena had a very pleasant life. I could easily see her ghost remaining on Earth," he started to explain when the floodlights in the two chambers flickered and went out. The darkness was instantly split by young Lotaru's screams.

A dim light soon filled the crypt. Ali expected that this might happen at some point because the system was new so he carried a flashlight with him. He immediately turned the beam on Lotaru.

"It's all right, Lotaru. The light's back. Why are you still crying?"

The little girl wasn't paying him any attention. She was standing against the back wall of the room, as far away from the inner chamber as she could get. Silent tears were still sliding down her cheeks and she was trembling in terror. He eyes were fixed on the doorway to the burial chamber.

Ali turned the flashlight in the direction of Lotaru's gaze and was shocked to see a man standing in the doorway. From his garb, the young man appeared to be a local. He wore long, tattered robes made of the same cloth that the people of the nearby village wore. A turban of the same material was wrapped around his head and a glittering ankh-shaped key hung from his neck.

"You? How did you get down here?" Ali asked, his voice bordering on anger. "This site is off limits."

"This tomb," the mysterious man began. "Is off limits to _you_, sir. You and your scientists who would dare intrude on the territory of the gods."

"Who are you?" Makoto asked him.

"I? I am a servant of the gods. It is given to me to protect what is theirs. I come with a warning for the two of you," he answered, nodding at Makoto and Kayla.

"Makoto," Kayla whispered to her husband. "Look…look at that ankh around his neck. You don't think…it could be-"

"Ah, so you are already familiar with the Millennium Items," the man said, fingering the key as he stared coldly at the three archeologists. "Then it will go all the worse for you, I fear."

"What are you talking about? That's not…one of the eight is it?" Kayla asked.

"This sacred item is the Millennium Key. I can say no more than that, for you are not worthy of that knowledge. But I can say, that you two will find only death here if you stay. Your search has been in vain. The sacred items are not meant for your eyes."

All three were outraged at the man's boldness but none of them could think of a single thing to say. The man wasn't speaking either and he seemed like he was about to leave. But then his eyes fell on the child crouched against the far wall. As he studied her, the hard look in his eyes softened almost imperceptibly.

Suddenly his attention was drawn back to the three adults. Kayla was moving towards her daughter and Makoto and Ali were still staring at him questioningly.

"If you value your lives then leave this place!" he shouted one final time before turning and vanishing into the darkness of the burial chamber. Then the lights flickered back to life.

As the elder Lotaru watched the scene unfold she remembered how terrified she had been when the strange Egyptian had turned his gaze to her. Even the shadow of that past fear made her feel cold as she watched her father and Ali venture into the inner chamber. She knew that they would find a small passageway that had been previously undiscovered by any of the archeologists on the team. She knew what would happen next and up to this point everything else that had happened was very tame compared with what was coming.

"Please," she begged whomever it was that was listening. "No more."

"As you wish," Mnemosyne's voice whispered in her ear. "The torture for this turn has played itself out anyway."

Then, in a violent swirl of color, Lotaru was standing back upon the dueling platform, facing Mnemosyne.

"A memory for every card," Mnemosyne reminded her.

"Won't the same happen for you?"

"No," she began to explain as a smug smile crept onto her face. "You see, I have no memories."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I'm not exactly…real, per say. I was created by Master Pegasus."

"From what?"

"From you. Or rather, from the bits and pieces of your essence that Master Pegasus could gather from the Shadow Realm. To extrapolate, whenever you visit or call upon the powers of the Shadow Realm you sacrifice a small piece of your own soul to it. But you have sacrificed enough to the shadows for me to be created. I am, shall we say, your negative. I was created for the sole purpose of fighting this duel."

"So this is some sort of test?"

"Exactly. If you pass, then you will have all of the star chips that you need and you will be allowed to pass into the castle. I will disperse back into the shadows. But if you fail…well, you know what happens if you fail."

"All right then," Lotaru said, somehow not surprised by this turn of events. "Lets get this thing started. I end my turn."

"Good. Then I play Harpie's Brother(1800/600) in attack mode. I'll lay this card face down and end my turn," Mnemosyne said as she placed some sort of magic card face down on the field and her winged ninja, Harpie's Brother appeared on the field.

Lotaru surveyed the field once before drawing. She ended up drawing the Dark Sage. No good. While the sage was a powerful monster it was no good to her unless she was playing along side of Atrus' deck. The true strength of her deck was in its fairies. And with Venus in her hand a plan was already forming in her mind on how to bring her nemesis down.

"I'll place two cards face down on the field," Lotaru announced, setting Windstorm of Etaqua facedown and laying Spirit of the Harp in facedown defense mode. "And now that my standby phase has passed, Spirit of the Breeze's special ability activates."

"What special ability?"

"As long as Spirit of the Breeze remains in face up attack position on my side of the field then I get an additional 1000 life points for each one of my standby phases that passes."

**Lotaru(3000):Mnemosyne(2000)**

"I'll just have to do something about your little spirit, now won't I. But first, another memory."

Before Lotaru could protest the forest vanished again. She was back in Tryphaena's tomb. This time she stood in the inner chamber.

"This wasn't here before," Ali whispered. He and Makoto were standing beside the grand pedestal that Tryphaena's sarcophagus was mounted on. Somehow when the lights were out the sarcophagus had been shifted almost two feet to reveal a narrow tunnel leading out from beneath the pedestal.

"What's going on?" Kayla asked as she led a trembling Lotaru into the burial chamber.

"I think we've found how our friend escaped," Makoto explained, shining Ali's flashlight down the tunnel. It seemed to be only a nine-foot drop to the floor of the shaft and then the tunnel continued on in two different directions.

"Do you think he might know-" Kayla began.

"Where the other items are? Yes I do, Kayla. And I think he might know their history as well. I believe we should follow him," Makoto said, swinging his leg into the narrow opening.

"Here? Now? Without any preparation? What if we get lost down there? What if there's a cave-in? We can't just rush into this Makoto!"

"Kayla, we may not get another chance! This could be the only trail we ever find to the Millennium Items. If we lose him-"

Makoto let the sentence hang unfinished the dank air. Kayla bowed her head in thought. They both knew that just going down the tunnel unprepared was foolhardy but-

"You're right," Kayla sighed. "Ali, would you watch Lotaru while we're gone."

"Of course," he answered solemnly. "I would caution you not to do this, but I agree with Makoto. You must go now if you wish to solve this puzzle."

"I'll go down first," Makoto said. He swung his other leg over into the opening and slithered down into it. Then he allowed himself to drop the remaining distance to the ground. To his surprise, it wasn't dark at all. The passageway was lit up and down with torches.

"Are you okay, Makoto?" Kayla shouted down after him.

"I'm fine. Come on down. It looks safe enough."

Kayla lowered herself through the opening and then dropped down to meet her husband. Young Lotaru couldn't hear them after that.

"Ali, where are they going?" she asked him.

"They're looking for something," he answered vaguely.

"What something?" she pressed.

"I'm not really sure, Lotaru."

"Well I'm gonna go with them," she declared boldly. She ran over to the sarcophagus and began climbing into the opening.

"No, Lotaru!" he shouted, running over and pulling her out. "You mustn't. Where they're going might be dangerous."

"I don't care," she pouted, struggling against his hold on her. Finally, she managed to wriggle free and her small form tumbled through the narrow opening and she fell the distance to the floor of the passage.

"LOTARU! COME BACK HERE!" Ali shouted after her. He quickly made to follow her but before he could swing down into the opening the sarcophagus suddenly slid back into place, blocking the entrance and leaving him pounding on the pedestal, unable to make it budge. Lotaru didn't stop to think about the fact that she was now sealed underground. Without any regard to her direction Lotaru bolted away down the tunnel.

She ran and ran without coming across any side tunnels. The passageway seemed to just go on and on. She ran until she could run no farther. When the passage finally came to a sort of cross roads she collapsed right in the middle of them, uncertain of where to go next and nearly too exhausted to draw breath. That was when she heard voices coming towards her from the passage to her right.

"But why doesn't Ishizu want to talk about it, Odeon?" the voice of a little boy asked. When Lotaru heard it she immediately ducked down against the wall of the tunnel she had just come down.

"It's best not to press her, Master Malik. Ishizu worries about you sometimes. That's all," the voice of a much older boy answered. As he was speaking Lotaru saw them come around the corner. Both of them had the dark skin characteristic of the Egyptians and both were dressed in shifts of rough, brown cloth. One was a boy who seemed to be no older than Lotaru. He had blonde hair and strange lavender eyes. The second was a teenage boy with a long black ponytail and deep green eyes.

"But why does she-" the little boy's question died in his throat when he saw young Lotaru crouched in the passageway.

"Who's that?" he asked the older boy.

The elder Lotaru watched the mystified boy approach her younger self with a fond remembrance. This encounter was one of the few good things that had happened to her in the past nine years.

The little boy knelt down in front of her, staring into her frightened green eyes with curiosity. He reached out his small hand and placed it on her face. For a moment the two children just stared at each other, curiosity and surprise overwhelming any questions. The older boy was the first to break the silence.

"Malik, stay away," he said, pulling the little boy back. Then he knelt in front of Lotaru and looked suspiciously into her eyes.

"Who are you and how did you find this place?"

"M-my name is Lotaru Kapori. My parents were doing some work in some queen's tomb and then this guy appeared and told us to go away. Then he disappeared and we found a secret door underneath the queen's coffin. My parents went down and then I followed them and got lost." Of course, Lotaru's parents had told her never to talk to strangers. But maybe he could help her find the way out.

The suspicion in the young man's eyes quickly turned to anger.

"Treasure hunters?" he hissed.

"No!" Lotaru shouted defensively. She remembered her father talking about treasure hunters once. He always told her that they were bad people. "My parents aren't bad! They just wanna know about the Mi-Millenn-ium items," she argued, struggling with the large word.

"Hmm, archeologists then," he said with a sigh. "You should leave this place. Those who are not destined for the Items will find only death."

"I'm not leaving without my parents!"

"Then you're goin' the wrong way," the little boy said with a giggle. "If you wanna get to the room where all the gold items are you gotta go back the other way. Back from where you came."

"How would you know?" Lotaru asked. "You can't be more than five."

"Nuh-uh!" the little boy said petulantly. "I'm Malik and I'm almost seven years old."

"Hey, wait a minute? What are you two doing down here?"

"We live here, silly."

"Live here? How can you live underground?"

Malik was about to say more but the young man beside him shushed him.

"It's possible. And again, I advise you to leave. You are not safe here. Master Ishtar will be very angry if he finds you here," he said, standing up and making to walk away.

"But I can't leave. The door I came though is shut."

"Aw, Odeon, can't we help her? We could help her find her parents and we could show them the way out!"

The young man, Odeon, debated with himself for a moment before speaking again.

"It would be better if they did not leave here, Malik. Her parents seem to know too much for their own good. It is our sacred charge to protect these chambers from plunderers. If they were to discover-"

"But you heard her. Lotaru's parents aren't bad. You wouldn't just leave her here, would you?"

"Malik, I-"

"Don't do this, Odeon. Don't be mean like my father. You wouldn't leave them trapped down here forever like we have to be, would you? Help her. And if you won't, then I will," Malik said boldly, reaching over and grasping Lotaru's hand in his. "I'll help her find her parents _and_ show her the way out."

Odeon bowed his head briefly. Lotaru could see that he wasn't going to argue anymore.

"As you wish, Master Malik."

"Yay!" Malik cheered. Then he turned and started leading Lotaru back down the passageway. Odeon followed close behind.

"Lotaru?" he asked after they had been walking for a while. "Do you think you could show us how you got down here?"

"Yeah, sure. It was right up here," she said as they passed beneath it. Now that it was shut, the door looked to be no more than a few well-placed cracks in the ceiling of the tunnel.

"Impossible," he whispered to himself. "The entrance from Tryphaena's tomb hasn't been opened for years."

"Hurry up, Odeon!" Malik shouted back to him. He and Lotaru had gained several feet on him when he stopped to examine the sealed entrance. For a long while he just followed behind the two children, listening in on their conversation but never speaking unless spoken to.

"How far is it to the place we're going?"

"It's pretty far. I've only been there once. Your parents probably followed that weird guy down there."

"What weird guy?" Lotaru asked nervously.

"Um…he's got these creepy blue eyes and he wears a turban all the time. And he wears one of those gold things my father's always talking about. I don't know his name."

"That's him!" Lotaru shouted. "He was in the tomb before!"

"Not so loud, young one. Many in these halls are not your friends," Odeon cautioned.

"Ok, sorry," Lotaru whispered.

"There's a short cut up ahead somewhere. It's only a few more meters before we come to the next crossroad," Odeon explained. No sooner had he finished speaking then the three came to the split passageway that he talked about. The path continued forward but it also split off into two different tunnels. But they also heard two new voices coming down the path to the left.

"Oh no," Odeon whispered in fear. "Malik, it's your father and Miss Ishizu. We must hide."

Without wasting another word, Odeon pulled the two children down the right-hand passageway and through a doorway that lay just inside it. He quickly pulled the stone door shut, leaving it open just a crack so as to see when it was safe. As he listened to the two going by, Malik and Lotaru crouched just behind him. Malik was on the verge of bursting into laughter. Lotaru didn't want to be found and she was afraid that he really would laugh, so she clamped her hand down over his mouth. Malik's smile just got bigger and he placed his own hand over her mouth. Now Lotaru felt like laughing. She and Malik just crouched there, one hand covering the other's mouth and trying hard not to giggle.

"All right," Odeon whispered after a while. "It's safe to continue now."

"Cool," Lotaru said. But just as she was moving to follow him out she saw just what kind of room they were in.

"Wow," she whispered in awe as she walked back into the storage room. It was filled wall to wall with gold and jewels. Splendid white gowns and kilts of fine linen. Rich cloaks made of royal blue and purple colors. Jewelry and crowns made of gold and silver and studded with precious gems. Statues made of gold and other kinds of stone. Lotaru wondered around the room, gazing at the beautiful objects but never touching anything. Her parents had told her time and again when she was on expeditions with them that she shouldn't touch things like this. She could tell that they were old.

"This is so _cool_," she said softly.

"Yeah, it's ok," Malik said casually. "I've been back here a couple of times. But jewelry can only be so much fun."

It was the sadness in his voice that made Lotaru turn around and look at him. The boy was idly staring around the room. She could tell that she had hit some kind of sore spot with him.

"Why do you live down here?" she asked calmly.

"Well, it's kind of a long story. I've never lived anywhere else," he started before Odeon could break in. "My family's lived down here for a long time. We're supposed to guard the tombs of some pharaoh and his family until he returns or something like that. I don't really understand it."

"You mean…you've never been outside?" Lotaru asked.

"Um…no," Malik answered, staring down at the ground as he shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

"Oh…that's awful," Lotaru said sadly, running over to him and hugging him. She had only just met him but she was young and boundaries like that didn't concern her. All she knew was that she felt sorry for Malik and she felt that he needed to be comforted. And Malik didn't immediately jump away when she hugged him. It was actually something very new for him. As far back as he could remember no one had ever hugged him. This girl was ok.

"Hey," he started to ask, suddenly realizing what would make her happy. "Do you want a piece of the jewelry?"

Lotaru nodded excitedly. It would be wonderful to own any of the things in this room.

"Then pick something."

"Malik, you can't do this. It is our duty to protect the treasures of the Pharaoh, not give them away!" Odeon argued.

"It's my choice, isn't it? If I have to be a tomb keeper I can decide what happens to all this stuff. So that sort of makes me a pharaoh too. Yeah! As pharaoh of the Ishtar family, I say that Lotaru can take something with her. Besides, I don't think some dead guy is going to notice if one piece of jewelry is missing."

Lotaru was only half listening to Malik's fantasy as she searched through all of the artifacts. She rooted through many fine things but nothing really caught her interest until she came to a small obsidian box in the back of the room. She gently lifted the lid from the box and peered inside. Mostly the contents of the box were pieces of gold jewelry. But there were other odds and ends as well. A tiny pocket mirror made of silver. But instead of a polished silver surface that the Egyptians had used for mirrors in place of glass, a circle of meticulously polished obsidian was set. An ivory wand about a foot in length with a small emerald set in the handle. A circlet crafted of gold and studded with lapis lazuli, meant to be worn on the head. A silver disk about two inches in diameter strung on a slender black thong. A large ruby was set in the center of the pendant and symbols that Lotaru didn't recognize were carved around it. A silver dagger with a handle carved to look like the head of a falcon. The cross guard was carved to look like the falcon's wings and two tiny rubies were set into the handle to resemble its eyes. With those eyes the creature seemed ready to spring to life.

But the last treasure that Lotaru found was the one that she liked best. A pendant made of gold and obsidian. She assumed that it had once been part of a necklace but that the chain had been lost. The center of the pendant was a golden disk about an inch in diameter…an image of the sun. The image of a feather was carved on the disk. And wings made of obsidian protruded from the disk. Lotaru recognized the pendant as a symbol of Ma'at, Egyptian goddess of truth and justice.

"Hey, Malik? Do you think I could have this?" she asked as she walked back to the two brothers.

"Yeah, sure."

Odeon just nodded, not wanting to argue on the subject any further.

"Miss Lotaru, if we want to find your parents then we must leave now. Our time grows short," he said, hustling the two children out of the storeroom. "If we take the forward path it will take longer to reach the chamber. But if we continue down the right hand tunnel we might be able to get there when they do."

So the three continued on with Odeon now leading. Lotaru and Malik kept talking quietly as they walked.

"Why did you pick that thing?" Malik asked her.

"Um…I dunno. I just had this…feeling about it, I guess. Why?"

"Well…it's just that, my sister told me that the things in that black box are bad," he explained uncertainly.

"Why are they bad?"

"Ishizu told me that the box belonged to the Pharaoh's sister. The scrolls in our library all say that she was bad. That she was an evil witch."

Lotaru stared down at her prize as Malik talked. The pendant didn't look evil to her. Maybe Malik's family just didn't know any better since they lived down here all the time.

"Malik?" Lotaru started to ask. "Do you want to see the sky?"

Malik stopped walking for a moment and turned to look at her.

"More than anything," he said seriously.

"Well, if we find my parents and I get out of here…maybe, someday, I could come back here. I know the way now. I could come and get you out just like you did for me."

"Would you really come back?"

"Yes."

"Then it's a promise? Cross your heart, right?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Yeah," Lotaru answered, extending her own hand and taking his. They clasped the pendant between them. It was a promise of friendship. There was nothing evil about it.

Odeon listened nervously to their conversation. He knew that he had to get Lotaru out. She was putting ideas into Malik's head.

"Lotaru, we're there. The chamber is just around that corner up ahead," Odeon said, pointing up in front of them. "You can make it on your own. This is as far as I dare go. The way out from there is simple. There is a stairway leading out from the chamber. It goes back up to the surface world. Master Malik, come. We have lingered here too long already."

With that, Odeon took Malik's hand and began to lead him back down the tunnel. Before Odeon dragged him out of sight Malik turned to look back at Lotaru one last time.

"Don't forget me," he called out. "Don't forget me!"

Lotaru stared after them long after they had disappeared, but she eventually turned around and slowly began to walk towards the bend ahead of her. For some reason she was suddenly deathly afraid of what she would find beyond the turn.

"You know what happens now, don't you, Lotaru?"

The elder Lotaru shuddered when she heard Mnemosyne's voice. She had almost forgotten that it was just a memory. And now she didn't want the memory to continue.

"Don't show me anymore, I beg you!"

"Much as I love hearing you beg, you are still due one more memory."

Then her voice faded and Lotaru was forced to watch the continuing memory.

The younger Lotaru rounded the corner of the passage and found that it opened into a large underground chamber. She spotted the stairway that Odeon had spoken of before at the far end. But at the other end of the chamber was a large stone door. It was sealed shut and hieroglyphics and pictures that Lotaru couldn't understand were inscribed upon it. Columns held up the ceiling of the chamber and she could just make out other passageways beyond the columns. A stone tablet was lying in the center of it all. The tablet was carved in the shape of a sarcophagus and more hieroglyphics were carved into it. But the strangest thing about the tablet was the fact that it had golden items placed in it. There was a hole in the forehead of the sarcophagus. And above that, a hole in the shape of some sort of pendant, a necklace perhaps. In the left hand of the sarcophagus there was an ankh-shaped hole. And in its right hand was a hole that seemed like it would fit some sort of staff or rod. At the bottom of the tablet, she could make out a set of golden scales. Just above them a sort of golden ring was set into the tablet. It had five spikes attached to it. At the heart of the tablet there was a pyramid-shaped hole. And there, lying just between the ring and the pyramid hole, was a golden hand mirror. The strange man from the tomb was kneeling before the tablet and other men dressed just like him were standing around him. And when Lotaru looked across the chamber she saw, just coming out of one of the tunnels, both of her parents.

The moment the two set foot in the chamber, the Egyptian's head snapped up and he turned to look directly at them.

"So, you two chose not to heed my warning. You should not have followed me to this place. Now you will both die."

"Die?" Kayla asked fearfully.

"Sir, you don't understand," Makoto tried to explain, stepping protectively in front of his wife. "We are archeologists. We have no intention of plundering this place. We only ask your permission to study the Items and their history."

"The Millennium Items are not meant to be studied. And they are only for the eyes and hands of those who have been chosen. Unless you are among that number, which I sincerely doubt, then you will not leave this chamber alive."

"No! Wait!" Lotaru shouted, running out of her hiding place and into the chamber. She stopped so that she stood between the man and the tablet, taking his attention away from her parents.

"Lotaru! How did you get down here?" Kayla asked furiously.

The Egyptian just sighed. "To kill a child…is a terrible thing. But it is my duty to guard the last of the Items."

"No! You wouldn't!" Makoto shouted.

"If it proves necessary then yes, we must."

Lotaru didn't hear the rest of the conversation. She was frozen with fear. She didn't want to die. And as these thoughts were racing through her mind, another voice entered her head. A whisper that she could almost swear that she had heard before.

_Come to me._

Lotaru slowly turned around, as if in a trance. Her eyes fell on the tablet, directly upon the mirror. The whispers in her head were growing more persistent. She couldn't understand why no one else could hear it. But of course, the attention of every man in the room was focused on her parents and they paid her no mind when she knelt down before the tablet.

_Come to me. Hear my voice and know me. We are to be one._

The Egyptian's attention was finally turned back to Lotaru when her hand closed around the handle of the mirror.

"No!"

That was the last thing that Lotaru heard before her mind was taken by the Item. She could feel her body falling away as she gazed into the reflective gold surface of the mirror. She was surrounded by darkness. She felt weak and cold. The shadows were stealing her life. And before her stood a foggy reflection. Or at least it seemed like her reflection. This girl was dressed in a gown of midnight blue. And her skin was much darker than Lotaru's. But the shoulder-length black hair and piercing green eyes were the same. This girl was also holding the mirror that Lotaru had just picked up and as she watched, the reflection seemed to be growing older.

"Help me," the ghost whispered.

"What?"

"Help me, little one. You are the one that I have waited for all these long millennia alone. You are the one who will carry this mirror." As the spirit spoke, Lotaru could feel herself growing warm again.

"What are you talking about?"

"My spirit has been imprisoned in this mirror for many centuries. I have been waiting for an avatar to come and revive me. That avatar is you. You will help me carry out my vengeance."

"Vengeance?" Lotaru was only eight after all and couldn't rightly grasp the concept of revenge. And the spirit seemed to understand this.

"My brother…he did something very bad. He was a king in a country called Khemet many years ago. He did something evil, and my friends and I were blamed for it."

That Lotaru could understand. She also recognized Khemet as the ancient name for Egypt.

"I only ask permission to live inside your mind. When the time is right I'll need your help in punishing my brother. In the meantime I can help you protect those you love from the evil that's been unleashed."

"Can you help me and my parents get out of this room?"

"Yes," the spirit answered. She had aged into a young woman.

"Then I guess it's ok," Lotaru said, not truly understanding, at the time, what she was agreeing to. "What's your name?"

"Asinath. And you will not remember any of this encounter until I will it."

Before Lotaru could say anything, the foggy image of the woman suddenly became solid and then vanished into the shadows. The shadows receded and Lotaru found herself lying on the floor of the chamber, clutching the mirror to her chest. She could see the Egyptian and her parents leaning over her.

"What did you see, child?" the Egyptian asked the moment she opened her eyes.

"I- don't know," Lotaru answered honestly. Just as Asinath had said it would, the encounter faded from her memory and did not reappear for another five years. She had no remembrance of the spirit dwelling in her mind.

"Lotaru Kapori," the man began as he helped her stand. "The Millennium Mirror has chosen you. You are free to go."

"Well, in that case we'll just be going," Kayla said nervously as she grabbed Lotaru's hand and started to lead her away.

"Wait a moment. I never said anything about you and your husband leaving here. You have not been chosen. That is the only way to leave the chamber.

"You can't be serious," Makoto protested.

"I assure you," the man said as his fellows began to circle them. "I am dead serious."

"NO!" Lotaru cried out, suddenly thrusting the Mirror up into the air. As she did this, a barrier of blinding white light was called into existence before them, separating them from their assailants.

Lotaru turned tail and ran, her parents following her. They ran up the staircase. The passage seemed to go on forever but still, they ran on until they reached the surface. They came up in some sort of abandoned warehouse. It was night.

"What happened back there anyway?" Makoto asked aloud.

"I don't know!" Kayla sobbed. "I just don't know."

"Mommy, when can we go home?" Lotaru asked, trying her best not to cry.

"Oh sweetie," Kayla said sadly. "I don't think we _can_ go home."

Lotaru struggled to hold back her tears as the memory faded. They hadn't been able to go home. Her parents had been afraid that the Egyptian would hunt them down. They had fled to her father's country, Japan.

"Hmm, nine years since it all began for you. Four years searching for the life that you lost. It must have been painful," Mnemosyne snickered.

"Stop it!" Lotaru shouted. "I END MY TURN!"

Instantly the battlefield snapped back into focus. Mnemosyne didn't wait for Lotaru to recover. She drew a card and…

"Harpie's Brother…attack the Spirit of the Breeze!"

The Harpie's Brother quickly took to the skies, winging across the field and slicing the sprite to ribbons.

**Lotaru(2200):Mnemosyne(2000)**

(You fool! Why didn't you activate Windstorm of Etaqua?) Asinath asked her.

Lotaru stared blankly at the facedown spell card. Why hadn't she acted sooner? She could have saved her Spirit. Why?

"Now I'll play my second Harpie's Brother(1800/600) and activate the magic of my facedown card, Raigeki!"

As the second Harpy appeared on the field a whirlpool of dark energy appeared beneath Lotaru's facedown monster, revealing the Spirit of the Harp only seconds before she vanished into the vortex.

"Now, my harpy, attack her life points directly!"

The second brother sprang up and slashed its virtual claws straight through Lotaru's heart.

**Lotaru(400): Mnemosyne(2000)**

"I end my turn," she said casually.

Lotaru lifted a shaky hand to draw her next card. Agent of Judgment-Saturn(2400/0).

(Lotaru, get your head in this game! You mustn't let these memories distract you so.)

(But…they-)

(No, Lotaru! I don't want to hear it! I know this is hard for you, but these memories are very tame compared to what I could show you of my memory. You know that, don't you? You've seen them in your nightmares. They are not nightmares for me. Those memories are what I had to live with every waking moment! Now stand up and fight!)

"I- I play Agent of Judgment-Saturn," she said as she laid the card down in attack mode. The fairy sprung up onto the field in a blaze of light. He had blue skin and brilliant blue angel wings. He looked regal in his white robes and crown. A formidable monster.

"Gah! Then I'll just pay you back for such a powerful monster. This one will break you!"

Once again the field disappeared. This time Lotaru found herself in a darkened room. Like the first room she'd visited tonight this room was all too familiar.

"Oh no," she whispered in horror. "Not this."

Lotaru saw herself, four years younger, sitting on a small windowsill. She was gazing out the window, not at the mucky streets below, but up at the sky. The stars were barely visible through the smog of the city but she knew that they were there. They were always there.

"Lotaru? Are you in here?" her father's voice could be heard asking as the door creaked open.

"Yeah, I'm here," she answered vaguely.

"I was just checking to see if you were ready for bed."

"Sure."

Makoto looked at her through squinted eyes in the darkness. It had been five years since the incident in the tombs and his hair had turned completely gray. He and Kayla had aged considerably from worry and stress. There had been no sign of pursuit but they were afraid to leave their small house. Tokyo had been safe enough. They had not had an easy life but they had been safe. That was what mattered.

"Are you all right, Lotaru?"

"Yeah, I was just…thinking about home. And I was wondering when you and mom are going to be done with your latest tests on the Mirror."

"Actually, we're finished with it for the moment. I was also coming to give it back to you," he said as he walked over to the sill and set the golden mirror down beside her.

"You know, I almost don't feel right without it," she said, never once taking her eyes off of the sky above. "Sometimes I wonder why that man said that it chose me."

"We all do. That's why your mother and I study the Mirror so much. Perhaps we can find an answer."

The younger Lotaru was only half listening to what her father was saying. She didn't tell him but she was also thinking of the nightmare she'd had last night. She'd started having these strange nightmares five years ago when she'd first gotten the Millennium Mirror. They were becoming more and more frequent nowadays and they were growing steadily worse. The one last night, she couldn't remember all of the details but she remembered a battle. Blood…death…suffering.

Suddenly her attention was drawn away from the faint stars by a light appearing before her house. She looked down and saw a black limousine drive down the narrow street and pull up in front of their house. Then she saw a group of men get out of the limo and start walking up to the house.

"Hey, Dad, who's that?" Lotaru asked. Makoto looked out the window, down at what she was looking at.

"Makoto!" her mother called urgently from downstairs.

"I don't know. Lotaru, stay in here," he ordered her before turning and leaving.

Of course, Lotaru didn't listen to him. Once he was gone Lotaru picked up the Mirror and crept out of her bedroom. The elder Lotaru followed silently behind herself as she slunk down the stairs. Voices could be heard coming from the front room. Lotaru flattened herself against the wall, peaking just around the corner to see what was happening.

"Well, Mr. Maximillion Pegasus, I'll only ask you one more time to leave my house," Makoto said quietly to the man standing before him. He was dressed in a fancy red business suit and he had silver hair. In the dim light, Lotaru thought she saw a golden eye glimmering in his face.

"You don't seem to understand what I'm asking here, my good Kapori. I want the Millennium Mirror and I am not leaving this house until I get it. I know that your daughter, Lotaru has it."

"Leave my daughter out of this!"

"She's only a child. She doesn't know the power that that item is capable of. I'd be more than happy to take the Mirror off your hands."

"What do you want with it?" Kayla asked suspiciously.

"What I want is really none of your concern," he answered casually.

"If it has anything to do with our daughter then it concerns us," Makoto said angrily.

"Now, dear friends, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. Which is it going to be?"

"We will not give you the Mirror," Makoto said staunchly, staring down Pegasus and his three henchmen.

"Fine then," Pegasus began, nodding to one of his henchmen. "Have it your own way."

The man immediately whipped out a handgun and fired two shots directly into Makoto's chest. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

"NOOOO!" the elder Lotaru screamed right along with the memory. Her cry was just as anguished and horrified as it had been four years ago. And young Lotaru's cries were lost inside those of her mother. Kayla dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Makoto's body.

"Now, Ms. Kapori, where is your lovely daughter?"

"No! Please!" Kayla sobbed. "Don't hurt Lotaru. You can have the Mirror."

Kayla pulled herself up from her husband's body. She had known Lotaru was listening. She walked around the corner, trying to keep calm. She knew that she would have only moments before Pegasus and his men followed her. She grabbed Lotaru's hand and ran down the hallway with her hysterical daughter in tow. She ran into the kitchen and slammed the door behind them, locking it.

"Lotaru, you've got to get away from here," she whispered urgently.

"What about you? What about Daddy?" Lotaru cried.

"It doesn't matter. You must run," Kayla answered as she forced the kitchen window open and half pushed Lotaru up onto the edge.

"I can't leave you here! I'm scared, Mom!"

"I know, but you have to escape. That man Pegasus wants your Mirror. You can't let him have it," she said. She could hear footsteps pounding down the hallway. They would come soon.

"Quickly! Go!"

Lotaru hesitated for a moment there in the window. She was still sitting there when the door suddenly burst open. The lock had been broken. The sound of gunfire shattered the air and Kayla jerked forward as several bullets tore into her back.

"MOM!"

Kayla slumped forward, blood leaking from her mouth.

"Escape…run," she choked out. She shoved Lotaru out the window just before she died.

Lotaru hit the ground just outside the window and immediately leapt up from the concrete. Hot tears were streaming down her face as she pounded away down the street. She knew they would come looking for her. She took as many allies as she could find. She ran until she could run no farther. She collapsed in an ally way, covered with dirt and sobbing in anguish. She cried as if her heart were broken, cried long into the night. She barely noticed how cold the night was. She cried until she had no more tears left in her. Then she realized that she was still clutching the Millennium Mirror. When her eyes fell on the golden item, a great rage rose up inside her. It was because of this thing that her parents were dead.

Lotaru climbed shakily to her feet. She gripped the Mirror firmly in her hands, fully intending to destroy it. With all her might, she smashed the Mirror into the brick ally wall. But, try as she might, the Mirror would not shatter. She smashed it against the wall until she had exhausted all of her strength. She continued to beat the ground with it after she had collapsed for the second time. She screamed in rage and pain. Nothing was working.

"It is time," a voice spoke somewhere above her. Lotaru looked up from the ground and found herself staring at a beautiful young woman.

"Who- who are you?"

"I have always been with you, Lotaru. I have always been here, hiding in the back of your mind. Do you remember?"

And suddenly, she did remember. She remembered her first encounter with the spirit. She remembered the promise she'd made.

"Yes."

"Now you understand what I meant. Pegasus killed your parents. Do you want to see him suffer?"

"Yes!"

"Then will you help me, Lotaru? Help me punish the murderers?"

"YES!"

As the memory faded and the real world returned to her eyes, Lotaru collapsed on the dueling platform, her eyes staring unseeingly up at the night sky. Tears slid silently down her face.

Mnemosyne sneered at her downed opponent. If she didn't get up soon then the duel would automatically go to her.

"It _was_ your fault, wasn't it, Lotaru? You picked up the Mirror. You drove your family into hiding. When the guns were against their heads, you as good as pulled the trigger!"

Lotaru didn't respond, but she did hear Mnemosyne's words. She lay still on the platform in shock. There was no blocking out the truth of those words.

(LOTARU, GET UP! FIGHT!)

"I- I killed them," she whispered. "They're dead. Mom, Dad…Atrus! They're all gone because they tried to save me."

With Lotaru in the state that she was in, it wasn't hard for Asinath to take control.

"Get up, Lotaru. Or do you forfeit the duel? Is that it?"

Asinath didn't answer. She just leapt up and jumped right into the duel.

"SATURN! ATTACK THE FIRST HARPIE'S BROTHER NOW!"

The blue angel immediately flew across the field, sweeping down on the harpy ninja and taking it out in a flash of light.

**Lotaru(400):Mnemosyne(1400)**

"I'll end this quickly Mnemosyne!" Asinath declared boldly. "But for now I end my turn."

"Gr. No matter. I'll destroy your Agent. You haven't a prayer!" Mnemosyne said as she drew her next card.

"For now, I'll lay this card in facedown defense position, set a magic card facedown and end my turn."

Asinath studied the facedown card out of the corner of her eye as she drew her next card. Then she turned her attention to the card she'd drawn. Yes! The card was Sanctuary in the Sky. In Lotaru's deck this card was practically unstoppable.

"First I'll play my Agent of Creation-Venus(1600/0) in attack mode and I'll send her to attack your facedown card."

In contrast to Saturn's regal bearing, Venus had a kind of subtle beauty. She was tall and slim and her blonde hair fanned out around her as golden wings sprouted from her back. She was clothed in a seductive green dress and certainly didn't look like she'd bring swift death. But she did. She sent a blast of mystical energy towards the facedown card and a Skull Red Bird(1550/1200) appeared for a moment before shattering into a thousand pieces.

"Next I'll send Saturn to attack the last Harpy."

As Saturn powered up for another blast Mnemosyne just smirked. She'd played right into her hands.

"No you won't. I activate the magic card Reliable Guardian. It will raise my Harpy's attack power to 2500 until the end of this turn."

"Good," Asinath said, completely unshaken. "I was hoping that facedown card was a power up. I activate my facedown trap, Windstorm of Etaqua. It changes the battle positions of all of your face up monsters. The Harpy's Brother switches to defense mode!"

With the switch in position, the power up was no good. Harpie's Brother's measly 600 defense made it easy prey for Saturn. The Harpy was gone in a flash.

"You underestimated me. That's the last mistake you're ever going to make. Now I activate my field spell card, The Sanctuary in the Sky!"

"Field Spell!"

"Yes. As long as Sanctuary in the Sky is in play any battle damage done to my fairies becomes 0. I control a fairy deck. You can't hurt me!"

"No!"

"Yes. On that happy note I end my turn."

"Well, I can still hit you with memories!"

Asinath did not resist the pull of Mnemosyne's weak magic as the world faded from her sight. There was nothing Mnemosyne could show her that would upset her. In her long centuries of imprisonment she had become as one dead. The pain did not haunt her as it did Lotaru. For her there was only vengeance for the injustice.

The memory that she surfaced in was an early one if she recalled correctly. She had been almost five years old. And indeed, that appeared to be her younger self's age as she watched the scene unfold. Young Asinath stood between her parents. Her father, Arheman, former vizier to the Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen, stood in front of her and her mother, the Lady Tryphaena. They were in some sort of house and surrounded by a group of rough looking men.

"Khemal," one of the men in the group spoke to the man at the head. "These are the ones. We found them wandering in the desert."

"Who are you?" Khemal asked. The hood of his cloak was thrown back to reveal a set of strange lavender eyes that had witnessed much suffering. He was tall and muscular and he carried himself with pride.

Arheman stood just as tall, his brown eyes just as imposing. He was not as physically impressive as Khemal, but still, he stood unafraid.

"We are enemies of Akhenamkhanen."

"You are foolish to believe that that alone makes us your friends. To become lost in the desert…you _must_ be royalty. Tell me, how are you connected with them?"

Arheman hesitated a moment before answering. This next statement would alter all of their futures forever.

"Akhenamkhanen is- is my brother," Arheman revealed. "He betrayed me. We do not come to harm or spy. We come to you for help."

"Do you know where you are? This is the thieves' guild of Khemet. No one of royal blood will find refuge in Kul Elna. We do not bow to your pharaoh here," Khemal said as he turned away from them. "Kill them."

"No! Wait!" Tryphaena shouted, rushing out in front of her husband. "Are you really going to kill an innocent child? We came for protection. We renounce our ties to the royal house."

"Will they come looking for you?" Khemal asked.

"They will not find us here."

"Don't listen to her, Khemal!" a female voice rang out from the group. She was the only woman present. She was very short with brown hair that had been chopped off at the neck. Her green eyes flashed with anger.

"Be still, Heka."

"If you let them live…if you let them remain here, soldiers will come. It will violate everything that we stand for! You cannot-"

"Do not tell me what I can and cannot do, woman! I will do what I believe is best for this village. Killing them won't make anything better, Heka. These are not the ones who killed your father. We are not murders."

"So," Heka began bitterly. "You've decided to let them live?"

Khemal debated with himself a few moments before answering her.

"Yes."

"So that's it then," Heka said as she stalked out of the tent. A murmur swept through the group and Tryphaena and Arheman both breathed a sigh of relief.

"The rest of you may leave. I shall see you all tonight," Khemal said, suddenly sounding tired.

As the last of the men walked out of the house a new face appeared at the door. A girl looking to be about twelve years or so. She had long brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"Father, is the council finished?"

"It is, Almah," Khemal said to her. "Go and fetch your mother."

"I am already here, Khemal," a woman said as she stepped into the house leading a very young girl. Both of them had the same brown hair as Almah and the little girl had Khemal's lavender eyes.

"Meet our new house guests, Akima."

"Hello," Akima said warmly to her new guests. "I am Akima. You've already met my husband, Khemal. Seeing as that it was the hunters who brought you here it's up to me to welcome you to Kul Elna."

"Thank you, Akima," Tryphaena returned. "I am Tryphaena and this is my husband Arheman. And our daughter, Asinath, is five floods."

Akima smiled at Asinath as she picked up her own daughter, who was starting to cry.

"This is my youngest, Relli. She's almost two floods. Almah!" Akima called to the girl still standing in the doorway. "Come inside, and bring Akefia with you."

Almah quickly obeyed and came into the house. She was leading a little boy. While Tryphaena and Arheman made a point of not staring at him, Asinath couldn't keep her eyes off of him. He had the same brown skin and lavender eyes as Khemal, but his long hair was a strange silver color.

"Almah is our firstborn," Akima continued. "She's almost of marriageable age and our Akefia's about the same age as Asinath."

As the adults drifted to the back of the house to talk, they left Asinath and Akefia standing there, staring at each other. They stood that way for a long while, each inspecting the new kid.

"Hi," Asinath finally spoke up.

"Hi," the silver-haired boy responded. "Where'd you come from?"

"Um…da palace," Asinath answered uncertainly.

"What's dat?" Akefia asked, his voice filled with wonder at the new word.

"It's dis really big place. It's da house I used to live in," she explained, getting bolder when she saw how curious he was. "But Mommy and Daddy say we're not going back."

"Are ya gonna stay here?" Akefia asked, suddenly getting excited.

"I tink so."

"Yay! A new friend!" he cheered, running forward and hugging Asinath.

Asinath hugged him back, a little surprised but still happy to have a new friend to play with.

The elder Asinath watched with a bitter smile on her face. This was a memory that she held dear.

"Akefia," she whispered to herself as the memory faded and another one took its place.

The new memory was in a cavern deep beneath the desert. Asinath's heart skipped a beat when she realized where she was. This place was the beginning, or perhaps, the ending of everything. Lotaru had also visited this chamber in memory tonight. The only thing that was missing was the tablet of memory. In its place was a large pit filled with molten gold. Young Asinath stood at the edge of the pit. Her throat was raw from screaming and her face was wet with tears. She wanted to run, wanted to scream louder, wanted to cry harder, but there was nothing that she could do to pull herself away from the horror before her. All of her neighbors, all of the friends she'd made over the past two years, were burning and dying in this inferno. There was nothing that she could do to save them, nothing that could block out the horrific screaming. All was burning.

Asinath watched her hysteric younger self for a while before pulling her eyes away from the pit and turning them to her mother. Tryphaena was struggling to get free and if she had managed to she probably would have thrown herself into the pit after her husband. Arheman had been the first to go. But Akhenaden, Asinath's uncle, was holding her in a death grip. He was watching the holocaust before him with a completely blank face. He had been the one to push Arheman in. His own brother.

Young Asinath could not pull herself away from the edge. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the half-melted bodies…some of them still screaming. Suddenly she felt a sharp, burning sensation in her right ankle. She looked down to see an arm reaching up out of the pit…a mutilated hand wrapped around her ankle. She fell back, screaming in terror as the arm used her to try and pull its owner out of the pit. But it was only succeeding in dragging her closer.

"MAMA!" she shrieked for help. Just then a head came up out of the blaze. She could clearly see a skull through the melting tissues and she could still recognize Khemal's lavender eyes somewhere in that mess of mutilated muscle. His misshapen mouth was opened wide and a strange gurgling sound that would have been a scream was coming out of it.

When those wide eyes fell on Asinath the noises stopped. The fingers that were more bone than flesh released their hold on her and the lump of melting bone and muscle sank back into the pit. Young Asinath collapsed back on the dirt floor of the cavern in shock and the elder Asinath could only look away as the memory faded.

_He overcame his will to live…just to spare me._

Everyday she had had to live with the knowledge that she had let all of them die. She had stood there…and done _nothing_!

"There's no time for that now," Asinath hissed to herself as she opened her eyes. Her mind had returned to the playing field and Mnemosyne was staring at her suspiciously.

"Another mind? Another memory? How can that be? Are you still Lotaru?"

"Mm, yes and no. In a way I am Lotaru, but also not Lotaru. However, it doesn't matter who I am. You are still not going to defeat me."

"Guess again, whoever you are. Take a look at the score. You're losing," Mnemosyne taunted, drawing her next card.

"I play Sonic Duck(1700/700) in attack mode!"

For all its attack power, Sonic Duck looked ridiculous. It was just a giant green duck wearing a red cape and large bucket on its head.

"Sonic Duck…attack Venus now!"

The duck blazed across the field in a burst of speed and quickly chomped off Venus' head.

"If that's all you're going to do, then at the moment of death I activate Venus' special ability!"

"What special ability?"

"First I'll activate my facedown card, Gift of the Mystical Elf. That'll give me 300 extra life points for every monster on the field. Venus wasn't quite gone when I activated it so that's three monsters for 900 life points."

**Lotaru(1300):Mnemosyne(1400)**

"Now for every 500 life points I give up I can summon a Mystical Shine Ball(500/500) to the field from my hand or deck. I'll sacrifice 1000 life points to summon two Mystical Shine Balls to the field from my deck. Then I'll shuffle," Asinath said as she went through her deck and removed the two chosen cards. Then she placed them on the field in attack mode and re-shuffled her deck.

The Mystical Shine Balls were very…nondescript, to say the least. All a Mystical Shine Ball is, is an orb of pure white light. But in a fairy deck it can be quite useful.

"What can those puny creatures possibly do for you?"

"Don't you understand yet?" Asinath asked as she drew her final card. "I've beaten you already. Your Duck is much weaker than Saturn. Once he's gone there will be enough power between the two Shine Balls to take out the rest of your life points and you've got no traps waiting. It's my move. This duel is over. But I'll lay this trap card facedown just in case."

Mnemosyne quickly surveyed the field and saw that Asinath was right. She had one last option. Her opponent was due three memories now. There had to be one that would cause her to give up as Lotaru had.

"I still have one chance. Say hello to your worst nightmares!"

Asinath shuddered as another memory took form around her. There was worse than that in her mind…much worse.

Asinath found herself standing in the sacred alter hall of a temple. She easily recognized the Temple of Re in Karnak. Not because of the building itself, but more because of the two figures that now occupied the hall. There was a bed set up before the sacred alter. A young woman was lying on it, naked except for the golden falcon mask that covered her face. Asinath knew that the young woman was her.

An even younger man was standing before the bed. He was also naked except for a golden lion mask and a veil concealing the rest of his head. The two young people stared at each other for the longest time, breathing heavily and never speaking. After what seemed like forever, the young man knelt down on the bed and slowly crawled on top of Asinath's body. Asinath gazed up at him, excitement and terror both racing through her mind. The young man eventually fell to kissing her.

Asinath watched the events replay themselves with a blank face. She remembered enjoying the mixed emotions of the moment when it was happening, but now that she knew who was behind the mask, she could only watch the scene with horror.

She could only watch as the two made love…could only watch as her long black hair spilled out of its veil and onto the bed as they both reached ecstasy. She could only look on in disgust as the two fell asleep in each other's arms. She could not change what happened.

"Oh, I just don't believe it," Mnemosyne broke in mockingly. "You sick, twisted person."

"Your insults will not reach me as they did Lotaru," Asinath said passively. "Show me what you will."

"All right, fine!"

At Mnemosyne's words the temple disappeared to be replaced by a prison cell. Asinath could see herself in the dim light, chained to a wall. A little girl was crouched next to her and she had one arm protectively around her. Asinath took in the girl's long silver hair and green eyes with a pang of sadness. Her sweet Shaiala.

Shaiala was shaking Asinath's shoulder but Asinath only responded by hugging the little girl closer. She held her with both arms and buried her face in her daughter's hair, her body shaking with silent sobs.

The elder Asinath looked away from the sorry sight when she heard the door to the cell open. Seth walked into the cell. He was dressed in all of his Priestly garb and he held the Millennium Rod at his side. He looked down on Asinath, half in pity and half in disgust.

"There was a time when I worshipped you, Asinath," he began. "You were everything that I wanted to be. But now I wonder…if that adoration was at all deserved."

"Well," Asinath began in a heavy voice. She did not bother to look up. "That depends on just how much of Akhenaden's lies you choose to believe."

"Don't you dare defame his integrity, Asinath! You are the one cast down, not him!"

"That's funny. I didn't know you had a sense of humor, Seth."

"STILL THY TONGUE!" Seth commanded angrily, holding up the Rod threateningly. "I did not come here to fight with you. There is some way that you could redeem yourself. Do you know of Bakura's plans?"

"I do."

"Tell me."

"Will you release my daughter and I?"

"No, I cannot," Seth answered sadly.

"Society demands swift justice," Asinath said bitterly. "I'll take my secrets to the grave."

Seth looked stricken by her words. The punishment for treason was death. Far as she had fallen, Asinath was his friend. They had grown up together. He knelt down in front of her, gazing directly into her piercing green eyes.

"Asinath…you will die for your crimes. There is nothing I can do about that now. But how you choose to leave this world is up to you."

Asinath met his gaze unwaveringly. All signs of her tears were gone.

"And what has this world ever done for me?"

Asinath could only sigh as the memory faded. What she had said so long ago was still true.

The final memory brought everything full circle. Asinath was standing in the chamber beneath Kul Elna once again. Many years had passed since the first memory and in place of the pit the Tablet of Memory was now set up. The Puzzle, Eye, Ring, Rod, and Scale were all set into it. Asinath saw herself standing at the foot of the stairs that led up to the surface with Shaiala standing just behind her. She was staring down Akefia, who was standing beside the tablet. Of course, he now went by the name of Bakura but that didn't really matter to her. He would always be Akefia to her.

Atem was standing somewhere between the two of them, his gaze constantly shifting from Akefia to Asinath. On one side of the chamber Siamun was watching the clash of the two wills while preventing Mana from rushing to Atem's side. Three of the priests were on the other side of the chamber. Isis was kneeling on the floor, holding Karim's head in her lap. He was already dead. Shada was standing protectively in front of them. He was holding up the Key, not sure whom to direct its powers at. He wasn't certain if Asinath or Akefia was the greater threat.

"You heard it straight from your sister's mouth, Pharaoh!" Akefia taunted. "I wasn't lying! Your house is nothing but a band of lying murderers!"

"You're wrong, Bakura!" Atem tried to deny him. "You were both so young when it happened. There must have been a reason-"

"A reason for slaughtering ninety-nine innocent souls in cold blood? Now you're just prolonging the inevitable. You know I'm right!"

"Asinath," Atem pleaded with her to make it not true, to prove Akefia wrong. "There…he's…it can't be-"

"I'm sorry, brother," Asinath hissed coldly. "It _is_ true. And you are no better than the rest of them!"

"I didn't know…I-I didn't _know_-"

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE! KILLERS…LIARS…ALL OF YOU!" she screamed furiously.

"Asinath!" Akefia called to her. "Do you understand now? Do you understand what I'm trying to accomplish? Amaroq was wrong. None of them deserve to live! I cannot do this alone. I need your power! Will you aid me…or thwart me?"

Asinath stared at her lover for the longest time, breathing heavily and trying to keep her anger under control. Seeing the madness in his eyes she could see that Akefia was no longer the man that she knew. She didn't want to believe it but the evil of the Necros God had taken him far beyond recall. She wanted justice just as much as he did, but he didn't seem to realize what would happen if all the Items were brought together on the tablet.

"Justice or no justice, you know not what you do," she tried to reason with him.

"I only know that I use this power to destroy murderers that do not deserve to live. And if I have to give power to Zork to do it then so be it! No one in this room can escape what they are or what they've done. Will you give me the Mirror or not?"

Asinath didn't speak. She gazed fearfully into those maddened lavender eyes that she had once loved. But no, this was not her Akefia any longer. It was Zork speaking to her. Akefia had given himself completely to the darkness. But what did it matter? They were all evil. Nothing could change that. Akefia was right. Asinath reached down into her cloak, her fingers closing around the handle of the Mirror. She never took her eyes away from Akefia's. What other choice was there?

The last thing Asinath heard before the memory shattered was Isis screaming.

"ASINATH, DON'T DO IT!"

Of course she'd given him the Mirror. What else could she have done? There was no other way. But maybe…just maybe, things would have been different if she hadn't. Maybe Akefia would have lived if she hadn't surrendered herself to Zork. Maybe…

"Give up?" Mnemosyne's voice broke into her thoughts.

Asinath looked up and found herself staring across a playing field at Mnemosyne's triumphant face. What was left to do except-

"SATURN, ATTACK HER SONIC DUCK!"

"What? NO!"

Asinath smirked briefly as her angel swept down upon the duck and destroyed it.

**Lotaru(300):Mnemosyne(700)**

"Now, my Mystical Shine Balls, attack her life points directly!"

Then, in one big flash of light, it was all over.

**Lotaru(300):Mnemosyne(0)**

Mnemosyne let out an unearthly shriek as her body vanished into shadow. Asinath raised a hand and called the three star chips from where they lay on Mnemosyne's consol into her hand. Then, without a word to Lotaru, Asinath climbed down from the stand and walked silently into the forest without looking back.

XxX

LE: Woot! Who's bad? I say, who's bad?

Bakura: Shut up!

LE: You first. So how's that for a dramatic ending to a chapter? I congratulate all of you who survived that chapter and love you very much for sticking with me. Let's see who can piece together of what happened in the past from some of those memories. Pretty cool, huh?

Kaiba: Are you done bragging yet?

LE: Fine I'll be quiet. But one last thing. My sister, Marble Angel, co-author of my other Yu-Gi-Oh story Past the Point of No Return, thinks that there is something I should mention. For anyone who didn't know, Asinath's name is pronounced O-sin-AH. The a is an o and the th is silent. If any other pronunciations are unclear, just let me know and I shall correct. But now, on to chapter 8.

Yami: Oi.


	8. Anything You Can Do

LE: I still haven't come up with a better idea for a summary! Oh well, screw it.

Bakura: Aren't you getting tired of holding us prisoner? You must have something better to do with your time.

LE: Nope. I have no life, no reviews, no inspiration, and no fricking clue! You people are the only exciting thing going on right now. Especially you, 'kura.

Bakura: (Sweat drops)

Kaiba: So what are you saying? That you're going to keep us here forever? I thought we were getting out once you had enough reviews.

LE: Well there aren't enough reviews! What do you want _me_ to do?

Yami: Write a better story?

LE: OK, THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD! (Grabs Yami, drags him to the open window and sticks his head out) Say hello to my mutated krill!

Ryou: Sea bass.

Yugi: Mutated sea bass.

LE: WHATEVER!

Yami: NO! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING! (To audience) Someone! Anyone! Is there anyone alive out there? Someone review the story and she might be happy enough to spare me!

LE: TOO LATE, PHARAOH! YOU'RE ALL WASHED UP!

Bakura: Ooh, this'll be good. And, btw, I think that LE would want it mentioned that when all of those spoken sentences are in italics at the beginning of this chapter, each sentence is a different random flashback from Asinath's past. And then the second bit of italicized stuff is Lotaru in her own mind and why she's not responding to Asinath throughout the chapter. After that just about anything in italics is a flashback.

_**Mirror of the Soul**_

_Chapter 8: Anything You Can Do_

As the sun rose over Duelist Kingdom the next morning, Asinath retraced her steps through the forest, trying to find Lotaru's campsite from the night before. While she could have easily performed a warp spell to arrive there in no time, this method of travel afforded her time to think about the duel with Mnemosyne.

Asinath kept glancing down at the dueling gauntlet she wore. The ten star slots were filled at last. She had gained Lotaru her ticket into Pegasus' castle. But for the last three star chips…such a price was paid.

Perhaps her past was not as dead as she had led herself to believe. She had forced herself to keep the memories at bay for so long, fueling her hateful existence with memories of death, all of them so similar that they had fused into a single thread…and that thread led back to her brother. But now she saw memories wherever she turned. The forest of Duelist Kingdom was becoming the forest of the Silverveil in her mind. She could almost feel her companions at her back once more. To rid herself of that memory she turned her eyes to the sky, and that reminded her of the day she'd returned to the ruins of Kul Elna, hoping to die. And the sun rising up over the forest brought to mind her last day on Earth. Every leaf, every unturned stone held a memory fighting to the surface. The dam she had built up during her imprisonment was beginning to crack. All because of one duel. So many voices from the past…

"_Then it's a promise?"_

"_I can't do this anymore…"_

"_MAMA!"_

"_Akefia, you've got to get away from here…"_

"_Asinath, this is your new brother, Atem…"_

"_He's not my father!"_

"_Don't-worry. I'm going to protect you…always! I promise. Please- don't cry…"_

"_Don't you want revenge?"_

"_How could you do this to me?"_

"_No, Akhenaden, it's not that. I think I am with child…"_

"_Help me…"_

"_I thought you were dead…"_

"_Are you willing to give up your life for her, Akefia?"_

"_After wandering in darkness for so long…a light brought me happiness. It's all thanks to you…"_

"_Awaken, mighty Obelisk!"_

"_GO! Just run! I'll stop him!"_

"_Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry…"_

"_You will die for your crimes…"_

"_He will remember nothing…"_

"_I would give up all my powers…if you could just be yourself again…"_

"_You brought me to this, brother!"_

"_You can still save him, Asinath. He is not gone beyond the call of your love…"_

"_You saved my life, Akefia…and I'll always love you…"_

"NO!" Asinath screamed suddenly, stopping mid stride to lean against a tree and catch her breath.

"I can't let all of these old sympathies distract me," she whispered to herself. "I am here for one purpose and one alone."

Finally, Asinath managed to compose herself and she continued on her way through the forest.

_If this is the effect that Mnemosyne's powers had on me, then I wonder what they could have done to Lotaru._

XxX

_What happened? No one's here…not even me._

_I…I was looking for something- or someone. Atrus! That's right! I was trying to free Atrus from Pegasus. He killed my parents. I was dueling. I fought against Raptor, and Logan! Now I know why he was familiar. It was that last name. Ishtar! That was Malik's last name. They couldn't possibly be related, could they? They're nothing alike. Malik's nice. And who was that master that Logan was talking about?_

_I haven't thought about Malik in so long. I wonder how he is. I wish I could have gone back for him, but I haven't been able to get back there. I do still have the pendant he gave me. We made a promise. Yakusoku shita yo ne?_

_It's not the first time a promise was made on that pendant. Asinath told me that it used to belong to her. Bakura, or Akefia, or whatever the hell she wants to call him, gave it to her. She told me it was like a wedding vow between them. Whatever happened during all their centuries of imprisonment anyway? She's shown me her past. I know Bakura loved her. She knows it too, even if she won't admit it. What happened to him? Maybe being trapped in an inanimate object for thousands of years just does that to you._

_Wait! I remember now! The last duel! Mnemosyne! I fought against Mnemosyne. She fought me with memories. Only…I can't remember how it ended. I can't remember! Is it still going on? Is this just another one of her tricks? Or did I lose? Am I trapped in the Shadow Realm? I couldn't be dead now, could I? No! That can't be it. Maybe I'm just passed out. Maybe Asinath took over. It can't be all over yet! Not yet! We've come too far._

"_Well it's nice to see that you feel that way about **something**! Maybe if you felt that strongly about your parents they would still be alive."_

_Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP! It's all his fault! I didn't do anything._

"_Exactly. You ran away."_

_HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? Why? Why is it me? I don't want to hear this. I didn't ask for any of it. I didn't want the Mirror. I want to be free of it all!_

"_But you still need the Mirror, don't you? You can't rescue Atrus without it."_

_But what comes after that? What else can the Mirror possibly want with me? I've given enough to Asinath._

"_Enough? Hardly. You promised to help her avenge all the murders. Atem still lives!"_

_I don't care anymore! That's her business! Why does she care so much? It wasn't all his fault! I'm not part of this struggle. I'm no duelist. I don't belong here. WHY DID I COME?_

"_Why, Lotaru? Exactly why did you come here? You mustn't run away. You must confront Pegasus…and you must confront yourself."_

_Is that enough?_

XxX

Asinath could hear Kaiba long before she could see him. Of course, she didn't know it was him at first. All she new for certain was that someone was going through Lotaru's things. When she finally reached the uprooted tree where Lotaru had kept her camp, she saw him leaning down between the roots, rummaging through whatever he could find.

"Well, well, well, somehow I don't think I should be surprised that you've stooped this low, Seto Kaiba."

Asinath saw him stiffen, the barest hint of surprise. But if she knew anything at all about him, it was that he would not allow himself to be backed into a corner. That included not showing surprise. So he slowly disentangled himself from the roots, stood, and turned to face her.

"What are you doing here, Kapori?" he asked, trying to sound like he wasn't interested in the answer and brushing dirt off of his trench coat.

"What am _I _doing here? I might ask you the same, but my answer is competing in the tournament. Now what are _you_ doing here, going through my stuff no less?"

"I wanted to know who was stupid enough to leave gear just lying around like that. Hmph, now I have my answer. And here I was starting to think that no one was dumber than that mutt, Wheeler."

"Is that the best insult you could come up with," Asinath snorted. "You still owe me a duel you know."

"Anytime," he said threateningly, stepping closer to her and trying to tower over her.

Asinath was trying hard not to laugh. This boy was so much like Seth. And like Seth, he was a child in her shadow. She had looked pure evil right in the eye. Seto Kaiba had no business trying to intimidate her. Where others saw an imposing businessman, Asinath saw a toy to be played with. The two of them stared each other directly in the eye for a long while, neither of them backing down. But Kaiba was the first to crack.

"Except just now, that is," he said begrudgingly. "I came here for Pegasus."

"I'm sorry, Kaiba. But Pegasus is mine," Asinath shot back.

"In your dreams, Kapori! While you insist on playing his little game, I'm going straight to the source. He's going to pay!"

"He will. But you aren't the one who's going to make him," Asinath said seriously, suddenly curious as to why he had come.

Asinath captured his eyes with hers for a quick moment. She used that moment to launch her spirit into his mind. She was skilled in this method of mind reading and it took her only a moment to find the information she sought. Pegasus had kidnapped his little brother. Kaiba was hardly aware of her before she was gone. The next instant she was staring at him again and the only sign of him having noticed the spell at all was a quick blink of his eyes.

"Tell you what, Kaiba, I'll make you a deal," she began softly. "I'll get you inside Pegasus' castle undetected."

"If you could do that then you would have done it already," he said angrily as he turned to walk away.

"How do you know I can't?" she asked slyly. "Like you said, I'm just playing his little game. Why would I need to get inside yet? What if I can get you inside? You'd be passing up the one chance you might get."

Kaiba stood with his back to her, debating. Much as he hated to agree with Kapori…what if there was something she could do? He was not taking any chances when it came to Mokuba.

"What's the catch?" he asked, still not turning around.

"No catch. All you have to do in exchange is duel me when we get back to Japan."

Kaiba quickly spun around. That was quite a deal if she could really pull it off.

"If that's all you want in return, then I'll let you try whatever it is you have planned. Though I highly doubt it will work. I think I'm getting the better end of this deal," he said smugly.

"All right then," Asinath said just as smugly as she went to gather up Lotaru's things and shove them all in her knap sack.

When she was ready, Asinath went to stand before Kaiba, grabbing both of his hands without any warning.

"What are you-" he started.

"Shh!" she hissed. Her eyes were tightly shut and she gripped Kaiba's hands fiercely. If she didn't hold him up then the shadows would take him.

The next moment the two were surrounded by darkness. Kaiba barely had a chance to be surprised before the spell dissipated and the two of them were standing in the dungeon halls of Pegasus' castle. Kaiba glanced around, almost fearfully.

_How can this be?_ he asked himself as he broke free of Asinath's grasp and went over to put his hands on the wall. Definitely real.

"Is this to your satisfaction?" Asinath asked mockingly.

"You- I…I don't know how you did this, Kapori, but mark me-"

"There's no two ways about it, Kaiba. I got you inside and you'll duel me when this is all over. I said I'd get you here, but I won't find your brother for you. That you will have to do on your own."

"How did you know about-"

"No questions," she said, grabbing his trench coat and backing him against the wall. "Neither of us has the time. And you'll return to me. You'll have no choice in the matter."

"You…you-"

She didn't say anything, and his mumbling stopped after a few moments. She was enjoying the minute trace of fear she felt in him as she gazed hypnotically into his eyes. His strong will was nothing compared to the strength of her magic, and she would enjoy proving that to him once Duelist Kingdom was over. She had ways to play with his mind, ways and ways again. She would tear his pride down. And perhaps, just a small taste of what was to come right now.

Asinath moved before he could react. Before he could say anything she was filling his arms, kissing him with a heat he had not dreamed possible. She pressed her lips roughly against his, pouring raw desire into him with the power of her shadow magic. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, pressing him back against the wall. Oh yes, she would make him writhe for her.

For a moment his fingers brushed against her arms, as if longing to grip them just as tightly. A single moment in which Kaiba felt that he would have done anything to satisfy the need he suddenly felt deep within himself. But before his mind could return to him, along with his anger, Asinath pulled away from him, leaving him completely unsatisfied, his entire body practically throbbing with need.

"I'll be waiting," she whispered dangerously before vanishing into the darkness.

Kaiba stayed where she had left him for a good while, completely befuddled by everything that had happened.

_I…that was…WHAT'S GOING ON? I don't have time for her lying nonsense,_ he mentally kicked himself. _I have to find Mokuba!_

Without wasting a second thought, he began sprinting down the hallway to his right.

XxX

Asinath materialized at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the main entrance of the castle. She sat down on the bottom step to wait. The sun was climbing higher in the sky and she sensed that her brother was close at hand. With Lotaru out of the way for the moment, there would not be a better opportunity to face him.

"You will pay for what you've done," she hissed.

As Asinath fueled her heart with hatred for the coming duel, another memory managed to worm its way into her thoughts.

X

"_Come on, Asinath," Amaroq coached her. "I see her. Just a little bit more."_

"_AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Asinath screamed as she gave one last good push. When at last, she heard the cries of her newborn daughter, she allowed herself to collapse back upon the birthing stone. Akefia slid an arm beneath her head and lifted her upper body back up in his arms. _

"_Sorenn, come here. I need your help," Amaroq said tersely as he cut the infant free of the birth cord. "Bring that bucket of hot water."_

_Sorenn quickly complied and he helped Amaroq clean up the baby girl._

"_You did it, Asinath," Akefia whispered encouragingly to her. "She's perfect."_

"_Let me hold her," Asinath whispered weakly._

_When Amaroq and Sorenn had finished washing the baby, Amaroq wrapped her in a clean blanket and handed her to her mother. Once she was in Asinath's arms the child finally stopped yowling. But Asinath's tears were just beginning. She wept tears of joy as she looked over the tiny creature she held. It was nigh impossible to believe that this beautiful thing had been created inside her own body. _

"_You know, Amaroq," Sorenn began jokingly. "I believe that you're the only man in all of Khemet who could successfully deliver a baby."_

"_It's a useful skill," he replied, his wizened face crinkling into a smile. "Never let any man tell you otherwise." _

_All three students cracked smiles at their mentor. Tonight was a night for rejoicing and Asinath knew that Akefia and Sorenn were both hoping to be excused from lessons tomorrow because of it. _

"_What are you going to call her?" Sorenn asked._

_Asinath was about to answer when the little girl suddenly opened her eyes and looked up. Her tiny violet eyes caused Asinath's response to die in her throat. Those eyes brought to mind why she was here to begin with._

"_No one else can ever know about her," she whispered sadly._

_All three men looked from Asinath and down to the baby girl she held. They all knew that she was right. There were many out there that would want this child dead…considering who the father was._

"_No one **has** to know, Asinath," Akefia said fiercely. "We can all stay here together. I…Sorenn and I will be like uncles to her."_

"_Thank you," Asinath whispered gratefully as she slid out a hand to grip one of his. "I'll call her Sephira…She Whom Sekhmet Protects. I defy my fate."_

_Amaroq just smiled bitterly at these words._

X But all too soon X

_Asinath was kneeling in the middle of the throne room. The entire room was ablaze from the fires caused by her anguish. Servants were running everywhere, screaming, some trying to organize to put out the fires. Akhenaden, Seth, Karim, Isis, and Shada were all scrambling around trying to restore order and Mahado was standing with Atem, trying to protect him from the flames. Asinath was in the middle of it all, clutching Sephira's small body to her chest. Screams of anguish and rage were tearing loose from her throat and tears were streaming openly down her face. Her magic was out of control, causing the very stone to burn. As everything burned around her, Asinath's rage wore on. The dark bloom of blood from her daughter's chest was staining her blue tunic a strange violet color. But there was no pain on the child's face. Were it not for the blood flowing from her heart, Sephira would have seemed to be sleeping peacefully._

"_ASINATH, STOP THIS!" Atem was crying out to her. But his cries could not penetrate her pain. And none of her companions were making an attempt to stop it. The delegation from Karego was all gathered around Sorenn's dead body. Akefia was the first to approach Asinath. But only because he feared that she would harm herself in her rage._

"_Asinath! You've got to stop this! You will destroy yourself!"_

_Asinath heard him but her pain could not be ended so easily. Akefia realized this and quickly raised his hands, throwing up a magical barrier around her and instantly cutting her off from the shadow energies. When her nerves no longer had an outlet for her berserker emotions she just collapsed on the floor. The screaming had stopped but the tears were still flowing. When Akefia was certain that she was calm enough, he let down the barrier and went to her, lifting her head up in his hands._

"_She's dead, Akefia," Asinath whispered brokenly. "My little girl…"_

"_Come," Akefia said sadly, lifting her in his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. "We must get out of here."_

_With that, Akefia turned and walked from the throne room, carrying Asinath and Sephira's body. The others followed closely behind him, carrying Sorenn's body. None of them tried to stop the raging fire and no one tried to stop them from leaving. Akefia's only concern was for Asinath and her only concern was for the small body in her arms._

X

Asinath bent her head forward, clutching her face in her hands and biting back a small cry. Now was not the time for weakness. If anything could keep the old anger burning, it was the memory of Sephira's cruel death. She was a particularly painful link in the long chain of people that had been taken away from her.

"We're out! Fresh air at last!"

"All right!"

Asinath looked up when she heard those familiar voices. Not ten feet from where she sat, a trap door had been opened up from the ground. Joey, Tristan, Tea, Ryou, and Yugi were all emerging from it. None of them realized that she was there at first.

"Huh, what's this?" Ryou suddenly noticed a single spike on his Ring. "My Millennium Ring is pointing-"

"There. To Pegasus' castle," Tea said.

"That's not the only place it's pointing," Asinath said casually, and for the first time the group noticed that she was sitting there.

"It's Lotaru," Joey said loudly.

Asinath stood up and removed the Millennium Mirror from its pouch in her jacket. She held it up so that Yugi was reflected in the golden surface. The Millennium Ring was pointing directly at the Mirror and it was starting to vibrate with power.

"It's another Millennium Item!" Yugi realized.

"What's going on?" Ryou cried out fearfully. The Ring had never reacted so strongly. Not even to Yugi's Puzzle.

"Power calls to power," Asinath explained calmly. "But that doesn't matter to me. It's Yugi I want," she said levelly, looking the young boy right in the eyes.

"What do you want with me, Lotaru?" Yugi asked, suddenly suspicious.

"I want the complete and utter annihilation of your other heart," Asinath answered coldly.

"The other me?"

"How do you know about Yugi's other self?" Joey asked.

"That is none of your affair, mortal! And in a few moments, it won't really matter any way."

Asinath noticed the flash of the Puzzle and the brief stir of magic in the air as Yami took control of Yugi's body. He stared at her unflinchingly, but she wasn't about to back down either.

"You are the other spirit from the duel with the spirit of the Millennium Ring, aren't you?" he asked furiously.

"I am."

"You sacrificed yourself to save him. Why?"

"Someone like you could never understand that."

Yami just smirked knowingly at her.

"Understand it? Let me guess, you're after the ancient powers of the Millennium Items as well, for whatever reason. You're no better than Pegasus or the spirit of the Ring. Just lusting after power, not caring whom you might hurt in the process. Like the girl whose mind you possess."

"Yami, spirit of the Puzzle, I assure you, you may believe me when I say that I have no ulterior motives. I only want to see you dead. I don't care what becomes of the Puzzle. I'm not interested in power or conquest. I have all the power I could ever need. The combined might of all eight Millennium Items is feeble compared with the strength of the magic I control."

"So…you want only my death?" Yami asked calmly.

"Yes, I will settle for nothing less. You and I will play a Shadow Game. And don't worry. I promise to leave your so-called friends out of this."

"How do I know that I can trust you to keep your word?" he asked, approaching her.

She stared at him for a moment without saying anything. Then she reached into her jean pocket and pulled out a pocketknife, quickly unsheathing the small blade. Yugi's friends all visibly jumped when she did.

"You have no way of knowing. But if you insist, I shall give you a blood oath. Not that you would remember what that means, but oh well. I suppose that's my own fault."

Yami stared curiously at her as she brought the blade to her palm, wondering what she meant. But his questions were silenced when she slashed the blade across her own palm.

Asinath's only sign of pain was a sharp intake of breath. Once a good bit of blood had leaked out of the slash wound, she smeared it over her shirt, over her heart.

"I swear by this honest token that shall be weighed against Ma'at on the judgment day, by the untainted soul given me by the powers of this Earth, no lie shall escape these humble lips."

Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Ryou stared at her bloodied chest in horror. But Yami's curiosity only grew.

"It is the most solemn oath I can swear. It was a powerful thing among equals in the ancient nation of Egypt. You may believe that I will not break my bond."

Yami's eyes widened at her mentioning of Egypt. That much, at least, was familiar. Asinath just smirked at his expression. She could tell that he was dying to ask her, desperate to see just how much she knew. However, his pride would not let him ask that of her.

"All right. I'll duel you. But when I win, then you must promise to leave us alone."

"Yugi, you can't duel her man!" Tristan said. "You've already got enough star chips to get into the castle."

"We're not battling for star chips. Pay closer attention and you will see that I too have ten star chips. This is simply a matter that needs settling."

"Lets duel!"

"Silly little Pharaoh. Who said anything about dueling? This is a game of a different sort!" she shouted, raising her arms high and calling upon the shadow energy. The spell warped the portion of the forest they stood in directly to the Shadow Realm.

"Oh no! It's the Shadow Realm!" Joey shouted.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, LOTARU?" Yami cried out angrily. "You swore not to harm my friends!"

"And I won't," Asinath stated cruelly. "As my word is my bond, I will release them when the game is finished. But you will not leave here. You will die in this game. This time you fight only for yourself. Oh, and perhaps the soul of your avatar as well."

"LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!"

"Yugi is bound to you, and you to him. If I must destroy him to get to you then I will not hesitate. I seek only justice and if his weak soul must die in order for it to be served I care not."

Yami stared at her, shocked. He simply hadn't been prepared for the evil he felt within her. He considered backing out but he also knew that the spirit wouldn't allow it. He was caught…like a fly in a web.

"Begin the game," he relented. "What do I have to do?"

"It's quite simple," she began. "This is an all out match. We each take turns trying to hit each other with whatever we've got. Anything goes. And because I'm such a nice person, I'll let you try and hit me first."

"All right," Yami said softly. There was only one attack that he could think of so…

"MIND CRUSH!" he cried out, gathering the shadow energy in his Puzzle and sending it flying towards his foe.

Asinath just smirked and quickly raised an energy barrier around herself. The shadow attack was easily absorbed into the shield.

"If that's the best you can do then-" Asinath fixed her eyes on a point directly behind Yami. She blinked once and a dagger was called into existence. With a quick jerk of her head it was flying towards Yami's back.

"LOOK OUT, YUGI!" Tea screamed.

Yami turned just in time to stop the blade from entering directly between his shoulder blades. Instead the dagger buried itself in his left shoulder.

"AAAAAH!" he screamed in pain as he collapsed to his knees.

"That was a cheap shot!" Joey shouted angrily.

"The attack," Yami whispered. "It hurt. It drained me somehow. But how can that be? Everything here is an illusion."

"Well that just goes to show how much you know about shadow magic. With the right degree of control, the right level of mastery, the illusion can be real."

"How real?" Yami asked as he struggled to his feet. "You can't just create something out of nothing."

"That's not entirely true. Nothing is impossible with the shadows as your ally. The illusion can become real enough. Real enough to end life."

"Evil spirit, you are a coward. Only a coward attacks from behind. I'll make you pay!"

"You dare to call _me_ a coward? Of the two of us participating in this game, I am the only one who hasn't committed murder!"

"What are you talking about?" Yami asked, shocked.

"You don't remember, do you?" Asinath asked mockingly.

"Don't toy with me!"

"Yami, so far you haven't done a thing to stop me toying with you. How do you expect to defeat me? You have no idea how to use your shadow powers. I am in full control of this battle."

"MIND CRUSH!" Yami screamed, sending the same shadow spell hurtling towards Asinath without any warning. Asinath casually raised a hand and easily caught the attack. She balanced the energy upon her fingertips with ease.

"Not bad…NOW LET ME GIVE IT BACK!" she shouted as she flung the ball of energy back towards Yami.

"DON'T TRY TO BLOCK IT, YUGI!" Ryou shouted.

Yami stared at the oncoming attack with a twinge of fear in his eyes. Truth be told, he had no idea how to block it. But, as fate would have it, he didn't have to.

In a blast of smoke and light, the Dark Magician appeared in front of Yami, absorbing the blow into his staff.

"…Dark Magician?" Yami stared at the monster questioningly. But there was no question in Asinath's mind. Old memories began to surface as the spellcaster surveyed her with his piercing gaze.

"Hello, Mahado," she whispered, half to herself and half to the spirit. "It's been a long time."

But his eyes no longer held the tender friendship that he'd once harbored for her. Now they looked on her as a threat to be crushed. A dangerous enemy.

"Do you understand now?" Yami asked, his confidence quickly returning to him. "You can't win. We might not be fighting with Duel Monsters but the heart of my deck is still with me. As long as I have that, there's no way I can lose."

"Understand? I think it's you who doesn't understand. Your magician's appearance goes far beyond that lovely "heart of the cards" theory of yours. It goes back to times you've forgotten. The Dark Magician comes to protect his master and friend. Though I have to wonder if you ever really considered him a friend and not just a servant. He comes because he knows that I'll kill you if given the chance. He knows I'm a threat to you."

"I must win," Yami whispered to himself. "For Yugi's sake."

Then he channeled more shadow energy into the Puzzle and sent a beam of golden light flying straight for Asinath. But Asinath only smirked and whipped out her own Millennium Item. She held the Mirror up and it blocked the blast. Both Items began to vibrate with the power that was pulsing between them and the combatants were soon engulfed in a golden aura.

"Is this really the best you can do?" Asinath asked calmly. She was easily keeping her hold on the Mirror while she could see that Yami was struggling to maintain the attack. "Is the Pharaoh that once struck fear in the hearts of evildoers vanquished?"

"Why does she keep calling him Pharaoh?" Tristan wondered out loud.

"I think it has something to do with the Millennium Items," Ryou began to speculate. "Like me, Yugi has some sort of ancient spirit living inside him. It seems to be the same with Lotaru as well."

Asinath finally decided that she was tired of holding up the tug-of-war between them and sent an extra bit of energy into the flow. This extra surge resulted in a wave that broke the connection and flung Yami off his feet. He lay there for a moment, panting with exhaustion. It had taken so much energy just to hold the connection. He was drained. It was different from a shadow duel. When he'd faced Bakura all he'd had to do was maintain the form of his creatures and spells, not actually perform their attacks and effects himself.

"Dark Magician," he pleaded softly as he stood back up. "Help me. DARK MAGIC ATTACK!"

The Dark Magician quickly raised his staff and sent a blast of dark magic thundering across the field. Asinath stared coldly at the magician for a moment before summoning a creature of her own.

"Priestess of Avalon, come forth!" Asinath called out through the shadows to the desired spirit. At her summons the spirit appeared before her. The Priestess was a tall, slender woman clothed in flowing lavender robes that fell down around her shoulders. Her hair was long and white and her motherly green eyes were alight with wisdom. The spirit raised her hands and easily absorbed the magician's blow.

"The Priestess of Avalon!" Yami exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes," Asinath said with pride. "The most powerful of all fairy creatures. Much more powerful than your Dark Magician. She is Lotaru's most powerful monster. But she is also much more than that. Now, in these shadows, our creatures exist as they once did, in former lives."

"What do you mean?" Yami asked angrily. "TELL ME!"

"Avalon," Asinath began the command. But before she could continue the spirit looked back at her. Her green eyes seemed to be asking something of Asinath.

_Will you really force me to choose between the two of you? My own children…_

"No," Asinath answered the unspoken question. "I won't do that. I only need you to destroy his magician."

Everyone present was a little too focused on Asinath's seeming rambling to notice the Priestess powering up for her attack. There was nothing the Dark Magician could do to stop the blast of light as it traveled across the field to destroy him.

"No! My Dark Magician!" Yami shouted as the magician was destroyed.

"You are free, Priestess," Asinath said quietly. The spirit quickly vanished back into the shadows. "I will not continue to use one whom I love as a shield."

Yami was too busy gathering energy for his next attack to notice the extra look that Asinath gave his friends.

"MIND-" he began, relinquishing every last bit of strength he possessed into the blast.

"That old hat again?" Asinath mocked. "In that case-"

Asinath didn't raise her hands in defense this time. This time she just snapped her fingers and Tea vanished from the sidelines in a puff of smoke. She reappeared instantly in Asinath's arms. Asinath held the girl up in front of her like a shield.

"Tea!" the other three shouted from the sidelines.

"Tea! No!" Yami cried out. With a painful yelp, he released the energy he'd gathered without attacking.

"This is low, Lotaru!" Tristan shouted. "Let Tea go!"

"Release her at once, you evil fiend!" Yami demanded. "You swore not to harm my friends!"

"I'm _not_ hurting her," Asinath pointed out cruelly. "If you take your turn and attack me, you'd be the one hurting her. You'd be the one to kill her. Though I don't see why you care now. You never cared before."

"I was a fool to think I could trust a coward who hides behind a shield of innocent people."

"I'm not hiding, Yami. I don't need to. You've got to understand that I just like watching you squirm."

"Let go of me, you evil creep!" Tea shouted, struggling uselessly in Asinath's grip.

"Free her. She's done nothing to you!"

"Nothing?" Asinath laughed bitterly. "Maybe she hasn't, but you have."

"Why do you hate me so much?"

The cool mocking that had graced Asinath's face moments before vanished quickly and was replaced with cold, hard anger. Then she spoke in a voice as cold as ice.

"You killed my child," she said simply.

Tea stopped her struggling. Tristan, Ryou, and Joey all stopped shouting at Asinath. All of their shocked eyes turned towards Yami. And Yami stood at his end of the field, completely unmoving. He suddenly felt cold, as if his opponent had just shoved a chunk of ice down his throat. How could she accuse him of something so…

"No…it's not…it _can't_ be true! You're lying!" Yami shouted desperately.

"I assure you, what I say is no lie. You spilled my daughter's blood with your own hands!"

"Listen here, you evil freak! There's no way that that's true! Yugi would never hurt anyone!" Joey shouted angrily.

"Be silent, young fool!" Asinath commanded. "You should keep your mouth shut about things that you don't understand."

Yami's hands dropped uselessly to his sides. He hadn't heard any of the argument. What she said couldn't be true…could it?

When Asinath saw that Yami was distracted, she quickly flung Tea aside and whipped out the Millennium Mirror. He hadn't attacked so it was her turn. She threw the Mirror the length of the field so that it came to rest hovering in front of Yami's face. He looked up just in time to see a flash of light burst out of the Mirror.

"AAAAAAHH!"

X

"_Brother, you can't do this!"_

_He looked up and saw the spirit of the Mirror being held back by a cadre of guards. The spirit of the Ring was with her. They were all gathered in some kind of throne room. He saw others but he didn't recognize them._

"_There's no other way, Asinath. It has to be done," he heard himself saying. He glanced down again and saw a little girl trembling in front of him. Scruffy black hair hung to her shoulders and two streaks of it were a violent shade of fuchsia. Her violet eyes were wide with fear. He saw the fear. His heart told him it was wrong but he couldn't stop it. He felt the hilt of a dagger in his hands. He couldn't stop the memory. He plunged the dagger into the child's beating heart._

"_NOOOOOO!"_

X

Yami came to just in time to see the Mirror float back across the field to…her name was Asinath. He knew that much now.

"That is one of the powers of my Mirror. It can reflect memories. Even if _you_ don't remember them."

"What- just happened?" he tried to ask.

"It no longer matters. You'll die without regaining any of your lost memories!"

"Sister?" The word was awkward in his mouth. He couldn't recall ever having used it. And somewhere, buried deep in his heart he felt a bolt of familiarity, though he didn't quite understand why. But was the vision true? Could this evil, twisted being, this Asinath, really be his…

"Yes. It is true. I am your older sister," she said stoically.

The two foes could no longer be bothered with the reactions of the other four. They were focused completely on each other. Brother to sister, enemy to enemy, face to face. Yami's heart filled with confusion and wonder and Asinath's heart overflowing with hatred.

"Bleed for me," Asinath hissed. She raised her hands, calling forth all the shadow power her hatred could muster up and bringing it to focus on her little brother. Yami stared at her for a moment, confused. But he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm. He looked down and saw that the blue sleeve of his jacket was turning a deep burgundy color as the blood soaked through it. He couldn't contain the cries of pain as more slash wounds suddenly burst open all over his body. He collapsed to his knees in pain as the blood poured out of him.

"YUGI!" Joey shouted. "Hang on! We're comin'!"

The other three followed Joey's charge, but they found themselves barred from helping their friend. All of them crashed into the barrier that Asinath had raised around the battleground.

"Don't interfere!" she commanded harshly, never once taking her eyes off of her suffering brother. He was bleeding, just as Sephira had.

Yami was growing weaker by the minute. His skin was growing even paler from loss of blood. At the rate he was bleeding, he knew he wouldn't last much longer. He couldn't let that happen. If this body died then Yugi died with him.

"Asinath!" he called weakly to her, using the name he knew to be hers. "You've got to stop this. Let it go."

"I'll NEVER let it go!" she shrieked, half-crazed. "BLEED! Bleed for Sephira! Bleed for Sorenn! Bleed for my father! All the dead that you killed! BLEED FOR AKEFIA!"

(Asinath? What's going on?)

(Ah, Lotaru. I see you're awake.) Asinath hissed sadistically to the confused girl.

(Asinath, the way you're talking…it's scaring me. What's going on out there?)

(Atem is dying!)

(What? NO! You'll kill Yugi!)

"I DON'T CARE!" she shrieked aloud.

"What's happening?" Tea tried to shout over Asinath's tirade.

"Lotaru, stop it! You're hurting him!" Joey shouted at her. But nothing could penetrate her madness. Her eyes were filled with bloodlust.

Asinath launched herself across the field, landing before her dying brother. Yami was on his back now. He was too weak to even hold his head up anymore. He looked up into her crazed eyes as she crouched over him. He had never been so helpless in the face of an enemy. And now it would cost him his and Yugi's life.

Asinath gazed hungrily down at her prey. Now was the moment to claim justice. She raised her hand again and a dagger appeared in her grasp. It was the same dagger that Yami had seen in the flash of memory. It was crusted with dried blood.

"Now," Asinath whispered, leaning down close to his face. "Taste the blood that you shed."

But, as she reared back and prepared to spring the killing blow, something happened. Yami looked up through hazy eyes to see that her eyes had gone blank. Asinath could no longer see the teen lying helpless at her feet. Instead she found herself crouching protectively over a little boy…a little boy with black hair and blonde bangs dressed in a royal tunic.

_Asinath could feel the heat at her back. Tendrils of smoke were curling into the room. Her little brother was crying hysterically and coughing in between sobs. _

"_MAMA!" he screamed over and over again._

"_Hush, Atem," she tried to comfort him. She was worried about their mother too, but she had to protect Atem right now. If the Amu found him they would kill him. She would not allow that to happen._

"_Sister?" he whimpered as she picked him back up and carried him to the back of the storage room they were hiding in. "What's gonna happen to us?"_

"_We're going to be fine," she answered forcefully as she searched for an exit. If the Amu didn't find them first then the flames would. "I won't let anything happen to you."_

_Asinath stiffened in terror when she heard the sounds of the wooden door being kicked in. A swarm of Amu foot soldiers poured into the room, bringing more fire and smoke with them._

"_Hand over the Prince, girl, and we might spare you!" the leader ordered._

_Somehow, in the face of certain death, Asinath managed to control her fear. Her only thought was protecting her brother. She gently set him down and turned to face the soldiers._

"_I'm warning you, leave now! I will not allow this to continue!"_

_With that, she raised a hand in the air and, using her weak shadow magic, she summoned a sword into existence. The blade was small but some of the soldiers still feared the fact that she had summoned it out of thin air. That element of surprise gave her only a moment's head start. She sprang forward with a bloodcurdling cry, ready to bring her sword down on the head of the first unlucky soldier. But their leader beat her to it._

"_ASINATH!" Atem screamed._

_The Amu captain stepped forward, thrusting his own blade into her stomach. Asinath's eyes widened in shock and pain. She collapsed before the rabble and the captain grabbed her wrist as she fell. He handed her limp arm to one of his companions and started to advance on Atem. Asinath knew what the soldiers were probably planning on doing with her. It was a war, and she was fourteen floods…ripe for the taking. But she wasn't thinking about that now. Her entire world became that stretch of ground that separated her brother from the Amu captain's sword. The wound in her stomach was too serious. She couldn't fight back. But she couldn't give up while they both lived. In what she thought would be the last move she ever made, Asinath weakly reached her free arm towards Atem._

"_Don't-worry. I'm going to protect you…always! I promise. Please- don't cry…"_

As suddenly as it had come, the memory vanished and Asinath was staring down at a blood-soaked Yami once more. He gazed up at her through glassy eyes, barely clinging to life. And somehow, as he lay there, almost lifeless, it just wasn't what she had imagined. She could no longer see Sephira's murderer in his broken form. All she could see was the boy he had once been…the little brother that she'd loved so dearly before everything had been thrown into chaos.

Slowly, she backed away from him, breathing heavily. She dropped the dagger she'd been holding and it vanished into shadow. As Asinath backed away from Yami the spell of blood was broken and the slash wounds healed instantly. Yami sat up, completely unharmed. The confusion on his face grew as he watched Asinath continue to fall back. Fear and confusion were also building in her eyes.

As her emotions went spinning out of control so did the Shadow Realm. Her connection to the magic had gone completely haywire. The shadows began to twist and swirl around them, vanishing and leaving the five friends in the exact same spot where they had been before the battle. But Asinath vanished with the shadows, allowing them to twist her form until she and Lotaru were nothing more than pure energy swirling in the void. Anywhere was better than with Atem and the others.

"WHY COULDN'T I DO IT?" the question raged from the depths of her lost soul. She had waited so long, hardened her heart against the old memories. Laying in wait in her shadowy prison she had counted the years as they passed. She had given up any hope of finding peace just to see him die. And when the time had come…she hadn't been able to do it! The childhood memory had come out of nowhere.

"_It's time to stop the killing."_

When she heard the voice, Asinath's sense of self suddenly returned. She ceased to be a shapeless mass of hatred when it called to her. That voice was so…familiar.

Suddenly Asinath came back to herself. A body formed from the darkness and she found herself lying in the shade of a tall tree. She and Lotaru had been returned to Duelist Kingdom, somehow.

"Amaroq?" she whispered.

XxX

Kaiba: It answers questions, but raises so many others.

Bakura: Wow, you're actually making a decent comment on Luthien's story. Why the change of mind?

Kaiba: I want to know where this Asinath character gets off kissing me. Who does she think she is anyway?

Bakura: (gloating) Apparently she was _my_ lover, so I want to know what the deal is too.

Yugi: So do I. What's her deal anyway? No one can beat Yami!

Ryou: You know, if she hears us saying good things about her story, she might consider letting us go. Speaking of which, where is Luthien?

Yugi: Oh she's still over at the window about to kill Ya-WAIT A SECOND!

(Everyone rushes to the window. LE is laughing evilly and Yami is already half way to the pit of doom.)

Yugi: NO! PLEASE SPARE HIM, OH GREAT AUTHORESS!

LE: Stop kissing up, Yugi. It's pathetic. Besides, you know there's only one way to save him.

Yugi: Gah! (To audience) REVIEW!

LE: Btw, for anyone who's confused, all of the confusing elements introduced in this chapter and the last one will be explained in due time. Another thing I thought I'd mention to avoid further confusion is that Asinath had two children during her life. Sephira was born first and after her death, Shaiala was born. Both girls had different fathers. Props to anyone who guesses who they are. You already know both of the fathers. For anyone who knows who the Hyksos are, Amu is the Egyptian term for Hyksos. I'm trying to be historically accurate here.I'll also say that the character of Sorenn is something like Malik's past life if that helps describe him at all. And, as Yugi said, review pwease. : )


	9. On Wings Unseen

Yami: (Still dangling inches from the pit of doom.) SANCTUARY!

LE: What is this? The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Much as I love that movie, you're starting to get on my nerves.

Yugi: LUTHIEN, YOU PROMISED! SOMEONE REVIEWED!

LE: Oh? Really?

Bakura: Yes. A person by the name of Yami-fan girl. (Aside.) Dammit!

LE: YAY! I'M NOT AS HOPELESS AS I THOUGHT I WAS! (Pulls Yami to safety.)

Yami: Hey! Don't get your hopes up. After all, she only reviewed because she likes _me_.

Yugi: (Eyes bugging out.) Don't make her _angry_, Yami!

LE: (Eyes turning red.) I only spare you this time because someone reviewed. Next time you backtalk to ME it's into the pit with you, review or no review!

Bakura: Maybe Luthien's not all bad after all. I mean, she obviously doesn't like the Pharaoh, and she's not going to kill me because she likes me.

Yami: That's not true! Everyone likes me. I'm the good guy, for crying out loud!

LE: Don't care.

Yami: Excuse me? You mean to tell me that if he was about to destroy the world and I was the only thing stopping him then you'd still choose him over the rest of us.

LE: Well, seeing as how that's not gonna happen, I'll stick with Kura's yummy psychotic ness. For once he's right about something.

Yami: WHAT?

LE: Moving on…where did that last memory of Asinath's come from. And that voice at the end? Who keeps interfering? Why am I asking **you** all these questions? Lets see if any questions are answered in this chapter. I should also mention that the next couple of chapters are mostly manga-centric. So Yugi & Co. already know about Yami and they've met Shadi.

**Mirror of the Soul**

_Chapter 9: On Wings Unseen_

Lotaru stared hesitantly at the door in front of her. Behind her was the safety of her own soul room, the boundaries that she understood. In front of her was the dank corridor that separated her from Asinath. Asinath's soul was the danger now. Lotaru had never seen the divide so heavy with darkness. The short distance between them somehow seemed to be an eternity. The entrance to Asinath's soul was fashioned like a cliff face. Only where the mouth of a cave should have been, there was a great wooden door sealed with the Sennen eye.

Normally Lotaru did not fear to enter into the dark soul, but something was different now. The door had never been sealed in such a manner before. Asinath had once explained to her that Atem's soul would be sealed this way, not hers. How had the dark Millennium magic penetrated Asinath's domain? She knew that Asinath had sworn off her connection to that power. Her magic was her own, not something out of an evil item. When had this happened? During the duel with Atem? Lotaru could feel the dark Sennen power coursing through the soul of her yami. She felt evil behind the sealed door. But she also felt pain and confusion. Asinath wasn't the one causing all of this.

"Either way," Lotaru whispered to herself. "I have to know what happened."

Lotaru placed her hands against the heavy wooden door and pushed it open with all her strength. Cold fear gripped her and the evil energy hit her like a wave of poison gas, almost like a living thing. The door closed behind her as she entered and she was engulfed by the darkness. A short time ago her own sanctuary had been filled with darkness and she didn't understand why. What was this dark force that had invaded her other heart?

Lotaru could barely see the many hallways of mirrors she knew to be there. The air was so full of the strange darkness. She kept her hand on the wall as she struggled blindly forward. Someone…or something did not want her to find Asinath.

"Asinath?" she called out into the darkness.

_Save her. Save her from herself._

"Huh?" Lotaru spun around frantically, trying to locate the source of the voice. But there was nothing.

Suddenly, the darkness shifted. The cloud parted and Lotaru saw Asinath. Quickly she ran forward before the darkness could swallow her again.

Asinath was sitting with her legs drawn up against her chest. She stared blankly into the darkness and the Sennen eye could be seen glowing on her forehead.

"Asinath! Look over here, Asinath!" Lotaru shouted as she ran towards her. "If you don't fight back, then both of our souls are going to be taken over!"

But Asinath didn't even move.

_Don't bother._

Lotaru's head snapped up in panic. Another voice. This one was so cold and wicked that it sent chills down her spine.

_The Princess is mine now._

Whatever it was that was talking to her, it was the evil presence that she'd felt. This was the thing holding Asinath's soul in its thrall.

"Asinath! Listen to me! You've got to wake up!"

Lotaru shook her yami violently in an attempt to snap her out of her trance, but it wasn't working. Nothing was working.

_It's no use. You can't reach her! Not even your bond can break the spell I cast. She's mine, just like her lover._

Just then, Lotaru looked up and another figure appeared out of the darkness. It was Bakura. An evil sneer twisted his features as he walked towards the two, reaching a hand out to Asinath. Lotaru managed to tear her eyes away from the apparition only to see Asinath on the floor, struggling against the darkness that held her. All in an instant, the glowing eye on her forehead shattered and she leapt to her feet, knocking Lotaru to the floor.

"NO! DON'T TAKE AKEFIA AWAY!"

Asinath raised her hands high and set a great burst of light at Bakura. But the illusion vanished before the blast reached him, and the darkness receded along with him. But the voice that had spoken before was slow to fade.

_You can't run forever, Asinath. I'm here…within. The ache you bear belongs to me…and I **will** have it._

Lotaru looked up to see Asinath kneeling next to her. She was staring fixedly at the spot where Bakura had vanished.

"Asinath…what just happened?" Lotaru asked as she sat up. "What was he talking about? What ache?"

Asinath shook her head slowly. It took her a few moments to actually look at her light.

"I…don't rightly know. But that wasn't Bakura. It was…someone else."

"Who?"

"I can't tell you that. You couldn't handle it."

"Why not? What happened with Atem anyway? Is- is Yugi dead?" Lotaru asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"No," Asinath answered bluntly as she stood.

"What? What happened? Why did you stop?"

"I…don't know that, either. A memory came to me from nowhere. Something reminded me that he's my brother. I just don't understand!" she screamed in frustration, turning away from Lotaru. "Why? Back then…why? If it had been that last battle I would have killed him without a second thought! Why now?"

"But-" Lotaru began hesitantly. "What happened? After you spared him? How did the Darkness enter this place."

"I- I called on the Mirror…during the battle."

"You WHAT?"

"I used the Mirror's power to disarm him. It didn't seem to matter anymore. After he died I would have had no reason to keep the Darkness at bay any longer. Akefia doesn't care for me anymore. I'm not even sure if his soul still exists. I was going to let it take me once the task was done. My thirst for revenge sustained me along with my desire for the Darkness to claim me and send me into nothingness. I deserve that fate. I am too tainted with the power of the Dark One to ever find peace," she said sadly.

"I've…never heard you talk like this, Asinath-"

"It's not as simple as I once imagined it to be."

"What's not? You mean to tell me that you would have just let the evil hiding in the Mirror take both of us?"

"No. I would have shielded you from him. I owe you that much," Asinath admitted.

"You were in no position to shield me from anything! That thing would have devoured my soul too if I hadn't come in here to wake you up. You never answered me. How did it get in?"

"Because I didn't try to stop him," Asinath answered bitterly. "I think…I think Amaroq saved me after I stood down. He brought me back to reality. I tried to give control back to you but when I came back to my soul room, he was already waiting for me."

"He? What he?"

"Zork. The Necros God."

For a moment, Lotaru didn't respond. Fear had frozen her voice.

"He- he's here?"

"Of course. It was he that you saw in the form of Akefia. He has always been here," Asinath replied passively.

"But I thought he was trapped in the Ring and the Puzzle-"

"Don't be so naïve, Lotaru. The Items have a connection. Even my spell couldn't hold him forever. He is powerful. I didn't think it would matter once Atem was dead. But now…" she trailed off.

"What about Bakura?"

At first Asinath didn't seem to have heard her. She began to stride away down one of the mirror halls. But she did answer as she walked away.

"I will save him. No matter what."

Lotaru took this as her cue to leave. She could see that she wasn't going to get anymore out of Asinath. Perhaps another time, when they were both calmer. But for now, at least Yugi was still alive.

She withdrew herself from the soul chamber and back into the physical plane to find herself lying beneath the shady branches of a tall tree. A long staircase leading up to the castle began not far from where she lay. She scrambled to her feet and hefted her knap sack for the trip up the staircase. When she reached the top she saw one of Pegasus' thugs standing guard at the main entrance. She could clearly see a heavy duty lock on the door so she figured the star chips were some kind of key.

(Don't go in yet,) Asinath suddenly broke in on her thoughts. (Can't you hear that?)

Lotaru closed her eyes and focused her ears. Yes…she could hear something. It was some sort of commotion.

(It's coming from the roof, and if it's happening at the castle then it must be big. We should check it out before we go in.)

Lotaru nodded briefly and made her way over to another set of stairs that led up to the roof. When she reached the top the first thing she saw was a Blue Eyes White Dragon…with THREE HEADS.

"Whoa," Lotaru breathed in awe.

(Even more "whoa". Look who's dueling.)

Lotaru tore her eyes away from the awesome beast to look at the two duelists. It was Yami and Kaiba. Joey, Tristan, Ryou, and Tea were gathered just outside of the field of battle.

(Don't go any further,) Asinath warned. (Considering what I've done, you're probably the last thing that rabble wants to see right now, and I _know_ Kaiba doesn't want to see me. Let me shield you.)

Asinath quickly cast a spell of invisibility around Lotaru. Under the protection of the invisibility shield, Lotaru approached the field.

(How is he hoping to defeat that thing with a gaggle of Kuriboh?) Lotaru wondered as she surveyed the duel. (Is it his last resort? He can't possibly have anything that could actually defeat it could he? That thing's unstoppable.)

(No it's not.)

(How's that? How can they beat it?)

(Well, I don't know how _Atem_ can defeat that dragon, but it's not unstoppable. The answer to defeating it is in your deck. The Blue Eyes' attack strength is only 4500. That makes it equal to the polymerized power of your four Agent cards.)

(You mean the Priestess of Avalon?)

(Yes,) Asinath said as the two turned their attention to the duel at hand.

"So is this some kind of a joke?" Kaiba asked furiously, referring to the wall of Kuriboh before him.

"Heh-heh, the joke's on you, Kaiba. When you attacked you thought I only had one defender, but now I have many. And I'm getting more and more defenders by the second," Yami said.

"No matter! Have you forgotten the incredible assault power my dragon possesses? It'll burn 'em to a crisp," Kaiba gloated before calling an attack.

"NEUTRON BLAST!"

All three Blue Eyes heads powered up at once and let loose a stream of fiery energy upon the wall of Kuriboh. For a moment the field was all smoke and it seemed that Kaiba's attack had worked.

"So there-" Kaiba began. But then the smoke cleared to reveal the intact wall of fur balls.

"But wait, what's going on here? My dragon's attack had no effect on your life points at all and those annoying creatures continue to multiply!" Kaiba shouted in frustration.

"That's right," Yami smiled triumphantly. "You can't take my remaining life points away Kaiba. Not until you wipe out all the Kuriboh. But as quickly as you destroy them, they multiply right back."

"Hairballs! For each one I destroy, two more take its place!"

(Ah, so that's what Multiply was for. Kaiba can't destroy an endless supply of monsters,) Asinath commented.

"That's right. You may have created the ultimate attack monster but I've created the ultimate defense. An ever expanding army of furry protectors. They may not look like much but they've stopped your dragon in its tracks. And that's just the beginning… for now I go on the attack!"

"You've nothing strong enough!" Kaiba countered.

"Watch me," Yami said confidently. "For I'm going to show you the combo that will bring your dragon down! Mammoth Graveyard**(1400/800)**, Polymerization, and the Living Arrow card."

"What's a Living Arrow card?"

"Living Arrow allows me to use my other cards in combination, not with my own cards, but with my opponent's monsters. I'll show you. Normally, I make a fusion with my cards but for a new twist, Living Arrow lets me fuse my cards with your cards, opening up bold new possibilities," Yami explained.

"Now what?" Kaiba asked as Yami began to play the combo.

"I can use the magical power of the Living Arrow to bond my Mammoth Graveyard to the heart of your beast!"

"No, my dragon! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Kaiba shouted in rage when he saw the effects of the fusion.

"Since my Mammoth Graveyard is an undead type monster he can't properly fuse with your living Ultimate Dragon. Instead it causes your monster to rot and decay from the inside out. Each turn your Ultimate Dragon will lose attack points until your creature is no more. Your so-called Ultimate Dragon, and your victory, is rotting away, Kaiba. It's only a matter of time now. And there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"There must be something I can do to save my Ultimate Dragon!"

"My Mammoth Graveyard has attack points of 1200. That means that each turn that goes by he drains 1200 points from your Ultimate Dragon's attack power. Soon it will be weak enough for me to destroy!"

"So what do you say, Kaiba? Guess three heads aren't better than one," Joey taunted.

"Can't lose. The fate of Mokuba's soul rides on this game," Kaiba hissed to himself. "Attack now, Ultimate Dragon! NEUTRON BLAST!"

"Again?" Yami asked as the powerful attack decimated a portion of the Kuriboh. "When will you learn? The Kuriboh multiply faster than you can eliminate them with your neutron blasts."

"No! I will not, _cannot_ be defeated!"

"I'll draw one more card and let my mammoth finish my turn," Yami announced.

"Go, Ultimate Dragon! NEUTRON BLAST!" Kaiba shouted desperately. Again the dragon attacked to no avail.

"Once again your attack has failed, Kaiba. My defense holds. And you have no other strategy to use against me. Your time is running out. You should never have challenged me, Kaiba. You see. My mammoth takes another 1200 points from your dragon. Even my weakest monsters can destroy it now."

Lotaru had long since stopped listening to Yami's commentary. Her attention was focused on the expression on Kaiba's face. He stood absolutely motionless as he stared at the rotting creature before him. His eyes were filled with horror and loathing such as Lotaru had never seen in him before, like he was standing in the midst of some terrible nightmare. She could see that in this moment, he had reached the end of everything.

(If you don't mind, I think I'll go and have a look at what's in his head,) Asinath said.

(WHAT?)

(Don't worry. It's not like it's cheating or anything. I just want to see how this will end,) Asinath reassured her as she separated her consciousness from Lotaru's. She sent her spirit across the field and into Seto Kaiba's mind. He was so wracked with his own guilt that he wasn't even aware of her. So she was able to observe his thoughts undetected. She watched his resolve for his final, desperate plan grow.

"This is it, Kaiba!" Yami shouted as he played his final card. "Prepare to meet your demise! Celtic Guardian**(1400/1200)**, attack Ultimate Dragon!"

With that, the Celtic Guardian leapt forward and cleanly sliced off one of the rotting Blue Eyes heads.

**Yami(400):Kaiba(400)**

"Yugi," Kaiba finally spoke, looking up at his opponent. "It can't end this way. If I don't defeat you in this duel, Pegasus will keep Mokuba prisoner…forever. I can't let that happen. And even though I don't have a card that can keep you from attacking, I think I still have a strategy that will stop you in your tracks."

"What do you mean?" Yami asked, suddenly fearful.

"I'm going to force your hand, and win this battle, Yugi," he began. "I lost 500 life points from that attack…so, each of the squares on the ground will be 100 of my life points. I will move back as many life points as I lose. I lost 500 life points…in other words, I'll move back five squares."

As Kaiba spoke he began to move back. There were only five squares separating him from the edge of the roof. With his fifth step, Kaiba stepped up onto the ledge. Now there was nothing standing between him and the empty air…and it was a long way to the ground.

"Kaiba! Stop this!" Yami shouted frantically.

"I have nothing more to lose," Kaiba said calmly. "If you hit me again…if you win this game…I will die."

"Don't tempt me," Yami hissed, trying to talk him down.

"My fate is completely in your hands, Yugi. You'll decide this duel one way or another. Of course, if you don't surrender I might be hurt. You wouldn't want that, would you? If our positions were reversed, Yugi, I would push you over the edge without a second's thought."

"Stop it, Kaiba! You know this is dangerous," Tea pleaded.

"Come on! Drop this cheap ploy! And get down from that ledge and play fair! You know that Yugi doesn't wanna hurt you!" Joey shouted angrily.

Kaiba only smirked at this.

"He knows," Ryou said matter-of-factly. "He's counting on Yugi to surrender."

"But he can't do that," Joey protested. "If he loses to Kaiba, he won't get into the castle."

"I'm warning you, Kaiba. Don't push me too far. I must win to rescue my grandfather!"

"And I must win this duel to rescue Mokuba," Kaiba countered coolly. "The difference is I'm willing to risk anything to do it. You know I can stand up here all day, Yugi. And I'm certain you won't make any attack for fear that you'll knock me off. Even though you know by not attacking, you give up the only chance you have to save your grandpa. Which means I have the advantage over you. For in my case, there's nothing holding me back," he said as he drew one last card.

"A magic card," he stated as he played it. "Monster Reborn, which I'll use to resurrect the Blue Eyes head that was just destroyed by your guardian."

"What? Restore a head of the Blue Eyes?"

"Now one of my Blue Eyes with its normal attack points of 3000 has just been reborn. With all of your Kuribohs out I couldn't touch you, but now that you've put another attack monster on the field I can wipe out the rest of your life points, which I'll do next turn once the polymerization ban is lifted. Two of Ultimate Dragon's heads are still weakened, but the third can wipe out your guardian in a breath. Our life points are equal, Yugi. Strike now if you dare. Otherwise next turn I swear I'll take you down!"

Yami stood stark still. He was at a loss of what to do. Lotaru stood just behind him, hidden from the eyes of the others and trying to reach her own yami.

(Asinath, you won't let this happen, will you?) she asked frantically.

(Don't worry, Lotaru. If Atem does attack, I won't let Kaiba fall. I still need him alive. But I won't interfere unless he does attack.)

Asinath stared steadily at her brother through Kaiba's eyes. She desperately wanted him to attack and prove what she had known ever since that horrible day at the palace. That he was nothing but a killer. She _needed_ to be right about this…needed to see in him the ruthlessness that had stolen Sephira's life.

"Yugi! Slit my throat with your card! That is unless you have the courage to unleash your attack!" Kaiba challenged.

(Do it,) Asinath hissed harshly, trying to urge Yami on through sheer will.

"Kaiba, I've _never_ backed away! And I'm not starting now!" Yami declared with a horrible finality. "CELTIC GUARDIAN! ATTACK!"

As the guardian sprang forward, Tea started to run towards Yami, shocked at the choice he was making.

"Yugi! You can't! You can't take this risk! Call him back!"

Time almost seemed to come to a stand still as the Celtic Guardian ran forward to deliver the killing blow. Asinath smirked to herself. She had won. Kaiba wouldn't die and Atem had proven himself, once again, to be no more than a heartless murderer.

"You can't do this! You can't! This isn't like you. You've gotta stop!" she cried out, still trying to reach him. "YUGI!"

Suddenly, Yami collapsed to his knees in despair.

"STOP!" the voice of Yugi cried out in anguish.

The Celtic Guardian immediately stood down at its master's command. Kaiba smirked triumphantly at Yugi's quivering form.

"Couldn't do it, huh. WHITE LIGHTENING ATTACK!"

The reborn Blue Eyes head quickly let fly a devastating burst of energy, destroying the Celtic Guardian.

**Yami(0):Kaiba(400)**

Lotaru breathed a sigh of relief but Asinath was more than a little irked that little Yugi had interfered at the last minute. But she was still satisfied that Atem had called the attack.

Tea stood before Yugi, uncertain of what to do.

"YUGI!" the other three boys shouted as they raced forward.

"Are you ok, man?" Joey asked as he knelt down beside him.

"I almost couldn't control it," Yugi cried. "The other me…HE WAS WILLING TO GO ALL THE WAY AGAINST KAIBA!"

The others were at a loss of what to say at this point.

"I'm afraid, so afraid of this spirit inside me. I'm afraid of this game…the other me…"

"I'm sorry…sorry about your grandpa," Tea tried to console him. "But you did the right thing. You couldn't hurt another person, not even to save him. He wouldn't want to be saved that way."

"Then I guess he got what he wanted," Kaiba put in harshly as he gathered his winnings. "If Yugi had done what needed to be done, he would be entering the castle, not me. But he was too weak to follow through on his play."

"He spared you!" Tea cried out passionately as she shot to her feet. "Kaiba, he showed you compassion! Which is more than you deserve! You bet your life as if it meant nothing! You lost to _yourself_! When you realized you were going to lose, you didn't have the courage to keep living!"

"_He_ lost the game," Kaiba countered.

"The game?" Tea asked incredulously. "Yugi may have lost one lousy Duel Monsters game, but at least he hasn't lost his heart. Not like you, Seto Kaiba! You've spent so much time with your machines you've forgotten what being human is about! Yugi has a heart, Kaiba. Yugi has us. Friends that'll stand with him to the end no matter whether he wins or loses some lousy game. And what do you have, Seto Kaiba? What do you have at the end of the day?" she asked defiantly. "Tell me? TELL ME?"

Kaiba stared at her for a moment, shocked that she had the gall to talk back to him. But he wouldn't let her stump him.

"I have all that I need," he hissed as he turned his back on them and headed down the stairs towards the main entrance.

"Yeah, keep foolin' yourself, Kaiba!" Joey shouted after him. "Yugi's twice the man you'll ever be!"

"Hey, cheer up, Yugi," Tristan said, turning back to their fallen friend. "You haven't given up just 'cause you lost half your star chips, have you?"

"Huh?" Yugi looked up at Tristan, speechless.

"That's right, Yugi. There's still time," Ryou added as he helped Yugi to his feet. "There have to be some duelists left on the island! You can still win more star chips."

"Yeah," Joey cheered. "We won't give up until you get your star chips back!"

"We're with you all the way," Tea agreed.

"Guys…thank you," Yugi murmured as he gazed around the circle of his friends. He knew that he'd been wrong to loose faith when he had all of them standing beside him. "Okay! I won't give up! I _will_ make it to Pegasus' castle!"

"Are you sure you want to be doing that, then?" a voice suddenly broke into the circle.

The five friends looked up to see Asinath standing on the ledge just behind them. When she had rejoined with Lotaru, she had immediately dropped the invisibility spell. Now she was staring down the group with a look of superiority.

"What are you doin' here, Lotaru?" Joey asked angrily. "How can you even show your face?"

"Now do you see what I've seen all along?" Asinath asked, ignoring Joey's outburst. "Yugi's other self is a killer. A cold-blooded murderer. What happens, little Yugi, when you let him loose in the castle? How many more people will die before this is over?"

Yugi stared at her in shock. Lotaru…Asinath, whoever she was…she was right. His other self was dangerous.

"Don't let her get to ya, Yug. She's the scum that tried to kill you!" Joey said as he walked towards her. She stepped down from the ledge so that she was at an almost equal height with him. He grabbed the collar of her jacket with both hands and lifted her up to look her straight in the eye.

"And with good reason," she replied, calm as ever.

"What's your game, Lotaru?" Joey asked furiously.

"For the last time, I'm _not_ Lotaru. My name is Asinath!"

"Yeah, whatever! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just toss you off the roof right now!"

"Because you wouldn't be able to. I should think you would understand that by now."

"Let her go, Joey," Yugi said calmly.

"But Yugi, if we let her walk away she's gonna come after us again. We can't just let her go!"

"I don't know who you are," Yugi said, addressing Asinath. "And I'm not entirely sure I trust you, but it's starting to look like you might be right about the other me. So I'm going to let you go for now."

Asinath let out a wicked laugh at this.

"Yugi, Yugi, Yugi. Haven't you learned anything from that callous partner of yours? Never leave a wounded enemy alive."

"Well I'm not like that. I believe in second chances," Yugi said sincerely as he turned to walk away. "Come on guys. We don't have a lot of time left."

Joey set Asinath down to follow the others.

"You're gettin' off easy this time," he warned as he joined up with his friends to head down the stairs.

"You just keep thinking that, Joey," Asinath whispered once they were out of ear shot. "I love it when people underestimate me. Pride comes before the fall, as they say."

(In that case, Asinath,) Lotaru began sadly. (I have to wonder just how far you're going to fall when the time comes.)

(Don't try to use wisdom on me, Lotaru,) Asinath reprimanded as she relinquished control to Lotaru. (I've had my share of falls.)

But Asinath had not laid Lotaru's doubts to rest. The fact that she could shield her thoughts from her darkness now were proof of just how shaken she was from their encounter with Zork. Asinath was no longer in a position to help her defeat Pegasus. Who could tell how long it would take her to regain full control? And without Asinath Lotaru knew that she had no chance against the powers of the Millennium Eye. She needed a new plan. Zork's appearance had thrown everything into chaos. And, as luck would have it, a new approach was already taking shape in her mind.

Lotaru sat on the roof for the better part of an hour, mulling over her new plan. Much as this new idea terrified her it had suddenly become her only option. Asinath could not help her anymore.

Once the plan was set in her mind, Lotaru made her way down from the roof and back to the front gate. But when she approached the door, the guard tried to stop her.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked, clearly annoyed. "The four finalists have already been chosen."

"What? That can't be right! I have ten star chips too!" Lotaru protested, shoving her full gauntlet in his face.

"Well…you…I don't understand how this could happen. I'll have to consult with Mr. Pegasus-"

But Lotaru already understood how it could happen. It probably had something to do with the five extra star chips Pegasus had introduced into the game with Kaiba at the last minute. But either way, Lotaru didn't need to duel now. Now all she had to do was talk to Pegasus.

"Just let me into the castle. I'll clear this up."

"This is highly irregular. There's only supposed to be four finalists."

"Well I'm not entering as a finalist. But I have earned the right to enter."

"Rgh, all right fine. You qualify." Then he stepped aside and allowed Lotaru to place her star chips into the slotted lock. Then the door swung wide open and Lotaru walked in. Once the door closed behind her Lotaru began to hear the sounds of a duel coming from the room beyond the entrance hall. She rushed forward and found herself in some sort of dueling hall. A playing field was set up over a giant chasm. Kaiba was on one end and Pegasus was on the other. She had come into the room on some sort of viewing balcony and Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Ryou, Mai, and Bandit Keith were all just ahead of her. Tristan was the first to spot her.

"Look, it's Lotaru!"

Yugi, Joey, Tea, and Ryou all turned to look at her.

"Which one are you?" Yugi asked.

"I'm Lotaru, the real one. And as things stand I probably can't even begin to atone for what Asinath has done to you."

"Lotaru, who is Asinath? And how did you get in? There's already four finalists," Yugi pointed out.

"Not now. I didn't come here to compete in a tournament. What's happening down there?"

"Kaiba's fighting Pegasus for his little brother, Mokuba. Pegasus has been toying with him most of the duel. I think you know why," Yugi began, staring pointedly at her before continuing. "Pegasus is using something called Toon World. It has the power to-"

"I know the rules of Toon World, thank you very much," Lotaru said impatiently as she stepped forward to get a better look at the duel. She was all too familiar with Pegasus' tactics from his duel with Atrus.

"All right, well, Pegasus has already used it to turn one of Kaiba's Blue Eyes into a toon dragon and he's captured another one. When Kaiba tried to free it by destroying Pegasus' Dragon Piper Pegasus used a card called Doppelganger to copy Kaiba's crush card to infect Kaiba's deck. Kaiba's on his last leg."

As Lotaru surveyed the field, she saw that it was as Yugi said. While they had been talking, Kaiba had used Monster Reborn to resurrect his only option: Saggi the Dark Clown.

"It's your last move and you're going to spend it reviving a _clown_?" Pegasus asked indignantly. "Oh yes, that's right, Kaiba. He's the best you can do with my virus still about. Shame, when you consider all that's on the line."

"Mokuba," Kaiba whispered. "I've tried my very best."

"Your best failed you!" Pegasus shouted triumphantly. "Bikuri Box! Emerge and attack!"

With that, the demon jack-in-the-box rose up from the pages of Toon World and diced Saggi to bits.

"Forgive me, Mokuba. I am so sorry," Kaiba said, bowing his head in defeat.

"There are no more cards you can play. Therefore you lose, Kaiba boy," Pegasus said snidely. "And you've lost much more than just this duel, haven't you Kaiba? You've lost the only chance you had at rescuing your baby brother. You let him down. But don't worry, my dear friend. I will spare you the agony of carrying on in this world without him." As Pegasus spoke he drew a soul prison card out of his jacket.

"What is that?" Kaiba asked in alarm.

"It is the final fate of your soul, Seto Kaiba," Pegasus answered cryptically. The Millennium Eye flashed brightly and its magic caught hold of Kaiba's soul. Before long Kaiba's picture appeared on the card.

"Ah, the Brothers Kaiba. One in each hand," Pegasus joked. "But even though your cards are very close your souls have never been further apart. At least when I had Mokuba locked up you were both still living within the same dimension, but now you're worlds apart. Take away that empty shell," Pegasus commanded two of his lackies. "Teach it to wash dishes or something."

The group of friends standing on the viewing balcony could only watch in shocked silence as they dragged Kaiba's body away.

"Ok, tell me I didn't just see what I think I saw," Joey said.

"He's gone too," Yugi whispered. "Just because he was only trying to help his little brother out."

"Yugi-" Tea started.

"He was like us. He just wanted to save someone he cared for!" Tears were gathering in Yugi's eyes now. "Why Pegasus? Who are you to toy with our friends? Our families? I won't let you get away with it!" As Yugi's anger grew, he suddenly lost grip on the situation and Yami took his place.

As Lotaru's eyes shifted from the enraged Yami to the smirking Pegasus, she remembered their last clash. She remembered Atrus' defeated smile…and then his blank, lifeless eyes staring back at her. She remembered despair, new hope, and resolve. At first it had been resolve to defeat Pegasus…but now it was resolve to meet her end without fear and free Atrus.

"PEGASUS!" she shouted, interrupting Yami before he could continue with his tirade. Pegasus quickly shifted his focus to her and a mocking sneer spread across his face. Before he could say anything Lotaru climbed up onto the balcony ledge and launched herself over the side. She used a little bit of guidance magic to make sure she landed safely on the opposite end of the playing field.

"Ah, my dear Lotaru. We meet at last. But however did you get in? The four finalists have already been chosen."

"I think you know," Lotaru said, trying very hard to keep her temper in check. "By introducing five new chips into the game you insured that a fifth person could enter this castle. I've come to claim what's owed me."

"But Lotaru, you haven't earned the right to challenge me yet. Neither will you get an opportunity to."

"I didn't come here to play your little game. I came to make a deal with you."

"Oh, tell me more," Pegasus said with a smirk. He could see where she was going with this.

"As the fifth finalist, I know there's no room for me in the tournament. I'm not asking to compete. I'm asking for a trade. You've got something I want and I've got something you want. I want you to free Atrus."

"Wait a minute? Atrus?" Joey asked out loud. "What's he got to do with any of this? And how does Lotaru know Pegasus?"

"Quiet, Joey," Yami shushed him.

"But what do I get out of this deal?"

Lotaru sighed and bowed her head before answering. It was all over. Her mother had told her never to let Pegasus have the Mirror. Now it was too late.

"I'm sorry, Mom," she whispered.

"You get me," Lotaru said heavily. "My soul for his."

"But what of the Mirror?"

"It's included. But you can only take the Mirror when there is no longer a soul in this body."

Pegasus smiled greedily. Then he pulled out two new soul cards. One had Atrus' picture on it. The other was blank. "Agreed. I do hope you understand what you're getting yourself into."

"Wait!" Lotaru cried out before he could activate the Eye. "I want to see him one more time. I know you have him here. Let me see him!"

"An interesting final request but I'll grant it," Pegasus said, nodding to one of the guards. The man left immediately for the dungeon.

"Lotaru. What are you trying to do? You can't just give him the Mirror!" Yami shouted.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Lotaru said with a tired smile. "I'll leave him to you, Yami. Don't disappoint me."

"But…Lotaru, do you have any idea what you're up against?"

"Oh, I have an idea. I think I know even better than you do what we're up against here."

"So you're just going to give up? Just like that? Without a fight?"

"I know what I'm doing," Lotaru repeated as she turned back to face Pegasus. "This is the only way."

(Lotaru, what do you think you're doing?) Asinath suddenly broke in. She had finally become aware of the situation on the outside and she was racing to stop it.

(Oh, Asinath, good of you to join us.)

(What's in your head? You're just going to surrender the Mirror? Surrender ME? What happened to the old plan. I can shield your mind from the Millennium Eye.)

(No you can't. You're not in control of yourself at all. As proven by the fact that you had no idea what was going on until now. You can't help me. I have to do this my way.)

(No you won't! I won't let you! I- I'll stop you!)

(You won't be able to,) Lotaru said confidently. (You're in no condition to. Besides, I never said anything about giving him the Mirror. It's only included if there's no soul in this body.)

"Yoo-hoo, Lotaru. Are you awake in there? I don't know if you noticed but there's someone here to see you," Pegasus said mockingly. Then he stepped aside and allowed two lackies to step forward. Between them they were dragging a ragged figure. When they stood him up on his feet, Lotaru could see that it was Atrus, exactly the way she had last seen him. A ripped black t-shirt, blue jeans, the black hair with the crown of white, the ice blue eyes that were usually so focused and intent…dead and empty. Only a shadow of what had been.

"Atrus," she whispered, her voice breaking.

(You don't have to do this, Lotaru. We can still go back to the original plan.)

(No, Asinath. It's too late. You know what this is like, don't you? To see someone you love dead before your eyes. I can save him. If you could have saved Akefia, wouldn't you have done it? I have to try.)

Asinath didn't argue.

Lotaru turned her gaze back to Pegasus.

"Our bargain?"

"Yes," he said, turning the Millennium Eye on Atrus. "Our bargain."

The Eye flashed briefly as it had with Kaiba. But this time instead of leaving an empty shell, the deadened eyes blinked once…twice. Atrus slowly looked around, testing his senses after a month of imprisonment. When his eyes fell on Lotaru he immediately sprang into action.

"Lotaru? Are you all right? What happened? What's going on?" he shouted as he sprinted across the arena.

But Lotaru didn't say anything. There was no time for words. She was just happy to see him safe. As he came closer Lotaru began to feel the Millennium Eye's grip on her but she wouldn't take her eyes off of Atrus.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered tearfully to him. His face was the last thing she saw before her world drifted apart like dust on the wind.

XxX

Atrus caught Lotaru's body as it pitched forward. Everyone else just looked on in shock.

"Lotaru? Lotaru! Don't do this to me. LOTARU!"

"Oh, Atrus boy, you are truly fortunate to have one so devoted to you. However, you're time is up."

Atrus turned on Pegasus, rage burning in his eyes.

"What have you done, Pegasus? Give her back!"

"I can't do that. We had a deal. She gave up her freedom for you."

Atrus slowly turned his gaze back down to Lotaru's lifeless body with dread in his heart.

"Why did you do it, Lotaru?" he whispered.

"Not that it matters. Lotaru's sacrifice was in vain. The Millennium Mirror is mine now."

"Don't count on it."

Atrus' heart leapt into his throat. At first he thought Lotaru had spoken. But then her eyes opened and he knew that it wasn't her. The eyes were still green but they lacked the warmth and passion that he knew and loved. They were cold hardened emeralds. It was Asinath that he now held in his arms.

Asinath quickly extricated herself from him and turned to face Pegasus.

"How can this be?" Pegasus asked. The Eye was glowing again. "A different soul? A dark soul…from the Mirror?"

"Yes. I may not be Lotaru, but my soul still inhabits this body. As long as I am here you cannot lay claim to the Mirror."

"Lotaru tricked me," he said angrily.

"No tricks. She said the Mirror was included only if there was no soul in this body. Was it really her fault that you didn't have the foresight to think there might be a second soul?"

"We will finish this tomorrow, Spirit of the Millennium Mirror," Pegasus said before turning and walking away.

Atrus stared at the nightmare that had always been hanging over his relationship with Lotaru with a twinge of fear. He knew perfectly well what this ghost was capable of just as well as Lotaru had.

"Asinath, what's going on?"

XxX

LE: I like it very much. I've been working so hard to get to this point.

Kaiba: And what's your definition of working hard? How long has it been since you updated this story? Six months, perhaps?

LE: Do you _want_ me to kill you?

Kaiba: You won't do it. You haven't got the heart.

LE: All right Kaiba. Taste my shrimp!

Yami: Sea Bass

Bakura: Mutated sea bass.

Yugi: Whatever.

(Kaiba appears dangling over the pit of doom.)

LE: Oops. And somehow I don't think anyone would review to save you. But hey, I'll give the audience a chance.

Mokuba: Ach! HEY AUDIENCE! YOU'RE WATCHING THIS AREN'T YOU! YOU CAN'T LET HER DO THIS! DO SOMETHING!

LE: You know you like the story. Go on and review…(grumbles) even if it is just to save Kaiba.


End file.
